Newtek Business Services, The Small Business Authority, announced the release of the SB Authority Index for April 2012 reaching 111.42 points.  The SB Authority index is down .06% from March 2012. The decline was led by approved SBA gross lending volume and the Russell microcap index.

President and CEO, Barry Sloane said, "The SB Authority index has been increasing over the past 16 months and we are sorry to report the streak of increases from the previous month has been broken as The SB Authority index is down slightly from March 2012.  As in most cases, financial markets lead the economy.  The leading causes for the indexes decline in the last month was fueled by equity prices in the Russell microcap index and approved SBA gross lending volumes.  Liquidity and financing are the mothers' milk of the economy and the reduced cost of equity capital and availability in debt could be a precursor to weak economic activity in the small business market.  Unless these capital market factors reverse course, this may be a caution for weaker economic statistics going forward."