“Compensation envy” hit fever pitch this week as the AFL-CIO released its 2018 Executive Paywatch report, which analyzes the pay ratio between CEOs and their median employee. The report claims that on average, CEOs of S&P 500 companies received $14.5 million in total compensation, 287 times that of their median worker. Notwithstanding, The Conference Board reported that according to its Consumer Confidence Index, after two months of improvement, consumer confidence dropped in June to 121.5 from its May level of 131.3. Looking forward, the report also showed less optimism for the short-term with the percent of consumers expecting business conditions to improve decreasing to 18.1% from the May figure of 21.4 percent. Also, consumers held a less favorable outlook for the labor market improving as well. And finally, we want to wish all of our subscribers a very Happy Fourth of July!! God Bless America!!