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In late January only 17% of the public claimed to know much about President Obama’s health care reform proposals. By late July, just before the president’s press conference on July 22nd, that number had more than doubled, to 36%, while fully 72% felt they knew “a lot” or “some.” The full importance of this question is that how much people feel they know about the president’s proposals are strongly correlated with opposition to them.

As the economy continues to work its way toward a recovery, employees are taking a "wait and see" approach with their 401(k) plans, according to the 2009 401(k) Benchmarking Survey of over 600 plan sponsors conducted by Deloitte, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 5.65 percent this week, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.46 discount and origination points.

Chief Executive magazine's CEO Index, the nation's only monthly CEO Index, dropped to 63 in July, after showing gradual improvement. All components of the index are down, with Employment Confidence taking the largest hit.

Led by rising investment confidence and expectations for the future, the most recent results of the RBC CASH (Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household) Index show a sharp upswing in consumer sentiment for August 2009, reversing the slide of the previous two months. The RBC CASH Index for August stands at 37.5, a 15.1 point increase from July's 22.4 reading. Although consumer sentiment remains volatile, the Index saw improvement in all four of its sub-indices, which measure consumers' views of current conditions, their expectations for the future and their confidence in investing and job security.

The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor fell for the second consecutive month from 85.6 to 83.5 (based out of 100), as consumer attitudes towards the economy and the current state of their personal finances continued to deteriorate. Overall, 61 percent rated current economic conditions as poor, a 2-point increase from the previous month.

There is a silver lining to the continuing recession for the majority of small businesses, with two-thirds of owners reporting they are finding new ways to operate more efficiently. This finding is revealed in the latest Small Business Success Index™, an ongoing measurement of the overall health of U.S. small businesses sponsored by Network Solutions® (www.networksolutions.com) and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business (www.rhsmith.umd.edu). The index, based on a June 2009 telephone survey of 500 small business owners, also found that small businesses’ mood has brightened compared to six months ago, with 38% of small business owners expecting the economy to improve in the next 12 months, compared to the 23% who felt this way in January. In June, only 28% of small business owners expected the economy to decline in the next 12 months, compared to nearly half (48%) just six months ago.

Despite the government's massive stimulus efforts and the current rally in the financial markets, "formidable" challenges remain for the U.S. economy and "the market backdrop remains highly volatile and uncertain," says Max Bublitz, chief strategist and portfolio manager at SCM Advisors LLC, an affiliated investment manager of Virtus Investment Partners (Nasdaq: VRTS).

The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for 30-year fixed mortgages decreased slightly last week to 5.26 percent, down from 5.29 percent the week prior, according to the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor, compiled by leading real estate Web site Zillow.com®. Meanwhile, rates for 15-year fixed mortgages fell to 4.62 percent from 4.66 percent, and 5-1 adjustable rate mortgages also fell to 4.21 percent, down from 4.23 the week prior.

Spending by all U.S. nonfarm businesses on new and used structures and equipment increased 17 percent, or nearly $201 billion, to a total of $1.362 trillion in 2007. This compares with an earlier cyclical peak of $1.161 trillion in 2000, according to a report today from the U.S. Census Bureau.