Investor confidence has remained stable over the past three months according to the Altamira Investment Confidence Index for February. Strength in the Canadian economy is offsetting negative news coming out of the United States.

According to Altamira, Consumers continue see opportunities for buying big-ticket items and consider most market sectors as slightly better investments than they were in November, when the last quarterly survey was conducted.

A war with Iraq could shatter market confidence, resulting in negative consequences for the stock market, the economy in general, and gas prices.

In the survey consumers said that now is good time for buying big-ticket items. They also said that banks and energy stocks are the best investments. However, survey respondents said a possible war with Iraq remains a wild card.

The Altamira Investment Confidence Index is a quarterly survey that measures the attitudes and behaviors of 1000 adult Canadians on a number of topical areas, including economic and employment expectations, purchase of big-ticket items, outlook for business, interest rates, taxes, and investment preferences.

The survey is conducted on behalf of Altamira by Millward Brown Goldfarb. Results from the survey considered statistically accurate within 3.2 percentage points, 19 times in 20.