A survey of financial advisors' outlook on the economy and the stock market sank to new lows in January, according to Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking. Its Advisor Confidence Index (ACI) benchmark, which surveys advisors' views, dipped almost 6% versus December and has plummeted roughly 24% since the indicator's inception in March 2004.

 

The ACI fell to 92.48, from 98.87. Advisor pessimism centers on expectations for first-half weakness in both the economy and the stock market due to the usual culprits: subprime collapse, credit crises, real estate turmoil, consumer overspending, worldwide financial issues, and uncertain political and tax laws.  

Advisors were downcast on three of the four elements used in the survey-current economic, six-month economic and stock market outlooks. The six-month economic outlook fared the worst, while the 12-month economic outlook was the only positive measure as advisors expect better times in the year's second half.