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Strategies & Market Trends : Technical analysis for shorts & longs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (38017)	8/14/2002 3:40:59 PM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71004

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday August 14, 3:31 pm Eastern Time Dow Jones Business News Survey Finds Americans Spending Less, Saving More By Jane J. Kim, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Shaken by the volatile market and corporate scandals, more Americans appear to be spending less and saving more. As part of that trend, about 40% of Americans have decided to put off events such as going back to school, buying a house or changing jobs, according to the results of a new survey commissioned by the Million Dollar Round Table, or MDRT, an association of life insurance and financial services professionals, in Park Ridge, Ill. To a lesser extent, people are delaying retirement, marriage and having a child. ADVERTISEMENT Opinion Research Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCI - News), a Princeton, N.J., research firm, conducted the survey through telephone interviews to a random sampling of 1,000 households. The survey was conducted in late July and early August. The findings were compared with results from a similar survey conducted in October. Since then, more people said they were taking steps to increase monthly savings and contributions to an emergency fund and retirement plans. Compared with a year ago, "more people are taking proactive steps," said Michelle Hoesly, an MDRT financial adviser. Nearly half of the respondents said they were spending less. Those who did cut spending said they spent less money on luxury items such as jewelry, personal purchases such as clothes, dining out, entertainment, and vacations. People also expressed a slightly greater concern over financial issues over the past year, although the increase wasn't as great as expected, said Michelle Hoesly, an MDRT financial adviser. For example, 41% of respondents said they were very concerned with ensuring that their family is well protected, compared with 38% in 2001. The number of people who said they were very concerned with keeping their retirement plan on track rose to 38% from 35% a year ago. Still, many say they agree that spending money helps improve the economy. "There's this kind of subtle message that spending is a patriotic thing to help the economy," Hoesly said. But there is some concern that the people who embrace this message are the people who really should be cutting back on spending, she added. -By Jane J. Kim, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4381; jane.kim@dowjones.com