6. The economy is taking a nosedive.
I'm including this among reasons to be optimistic because a growing number of Trump voters are suffering buyer's remorse. They voted for him because they thought he'd fix the economy. Instead, the economy is taking a nosedive.
Because of Trump's tariffs and his budget-busting tax cuts, consumer expectations about inflation are the highest they've been since 1995. Over 75 percent of the public believes that their incomes aren't keeping up with inflation.
Credit card and auto loan delinquencies are higher than they've been since the 2008 financial crisis. Homebuilders are frozen, as well.
This week's data on consumer confidence showed it down to a level last seen in 2021.
Data from the Commerce Department, out last Friday, showed consumer spending falling sharply in January, adding to angst about the economy's prospects.
After new data came out this week on trade and consumer spending, the Atlanta Fed is projecting that the U.S. is shrinking at a rate of 1.5 percent in this quarter.
The political fallout is clear: Trump, came into office relatively popular. Now more Americans disapprove of him than approve, including nearly 60 percent of independents.
I'm also including this week's plunge in the stock market on my causes for modest optimism because Trump and his wealthy campaign backers consider the stock market their measure of success or failure.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.8 percent on Thursday, taking the index's slide for this week to 3.6 percent and putting it on course for its worst week since a banking crisis two years ago that felled some of the country's small lenders. Have a look:
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