The wrangling over the debt ceiling has caused a lot of bickering and frantic negotiation in Washington - and a lot of concern on the part of individual investors. A survey conducted at the end of last week by UBS asked 1,000 affluent investors - with at least a quarter-million dollars in investable assets - about their feelings toward the negotiations. A full 40 percent said they wouldn't be buying any more domestic stocks until the entire issue was resolved.
As of April, 53 percent of these investors were optimistic about the short-term prospects for the economy. Now, 60 percent say they are pessimistic about the economy's prospects. The biggest concern? The size of the federal debt, which is an issue for 65 percent of the respondents. Another 40 percent reported being worried about a U.S. default.
According to a survey of AmeriTrade customers, 72 percent of the respondents reported that they were extremely dissatisfied with the way Congress has dealt with the debt issue. We'll see if their opinion changes any once the whole battle is over.
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