Markets · August 15, 2026 · 2 min read

Michigan Survey Data Showed a Wide August Sentiment Range by Stock Ownership Group

Published August 15, 2026 • Updated August 21, 2026

The University of Michigan’s August 14 stock-ownership addendum reported three-month average consumer-sentiment readings of 44.3 for the bottom third of stock wealth, 51.9 for the middle third, 68.1 for the top third, and 47.6 for respondents reporting no stock ownership.

CONFIRMED FACTS The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers published its Tables Addenda of Stock Ownership on August 14, 2026. The table reports three-month moving averages for the Index of Consumer Sentiment and its Current Economic Conditions and Consumer Expectations components, separated into the bottom, middle, and top thirds of stock wealth and a no-stock group. For August 2026, the reported consumer-sentiment index values were 44.3 for the bottom third of stock wealth, 51.9 for the middle third, 68.1 for the top third, and 47.6 for respondents reporting no stock ownership. The source defines the no-stock group as respondents who answered no when asked whether they or their family had investments in the stock market, including directly owned publicly traded stock, mutual-fund stock, or stock in retirement accounts. The same August table reported Current Economic Conditions values of 41.8, 53.9, 72.5, and 44.4, respectively, across those four groups. It reported Consumer Expectations values of 46.0, 50.6, 65.3, and 49.7, respectively. ANALYSIS The top-third stock-wealth group’s August sentiment reading was 23.8 index points above the bottom-third reading and 20.5 points above the no-stock reading, calculated from the published values. The group differences appear in both components: the top-third current-conditions value exceeded the bottom-third value by 30.7 points, and its expectations value exceeded it by 19.3 points. These are differences in the survey’s published group averages, not estimates of the causal effect of owning stock. UNKNOWNS AND LIMITS The addendum does not establish why the groups differ, whether stock ownership or wealth caused those differences, or whether the gaps will persist. The figures are three-month moving averages rather than a single-month reading, and the table does not provide the group sample sizes, sampling errors, income, age, or other characteristics needed to isolate drivers of sentiment. The no-stock definition is based on the survey response and does not measure every financial asset, debt, income source, or household circumstance. UPDATE LOG Published August 15, 2026 after direct review of the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers’ August 14, 2026 Tables Addenda of Stock Ownership and the survey’s report index. Published Data Brief records were checked for duplicate slug, canonical source URL, and substantive overlap before publication; no published brief used this source or covered this stock-ownership sentiment table.

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Sources

University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers — Tables Addenda of Stock Ownership, August 14, 2026 — Primary table; reports three-month moving averages by stock-ownership and stock-wealth group.
University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers — Reports index — Primary publisher index, which lists the stock-ownership addendum as released August 14, 2026.

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