Nearly half of CNBC's audience expects the Federal Reserve to announce another quantitative easing program , a much higher proportion than the number of Wall Street professionals who think that's likely. 'Main Street' is also more pessimistic than 'Wall Street', with a majority expecting the U.S. to fall back into a recession .
For the first time, CNBC viewers and CNBC.com users were able to answer some of the same questions we've been putting to the pros in our monthly CNBC Fed Survey. Almost 5000 people took the opportunity to share their forecasts.
In our unscientific online survey, 48 percent of you say there will be another QE program from the Fed in the next 12 months. Only 34 percent of the professionals in our Fed survey think that will happen.
That doesn't mean 'Main Street' wants more QE. Fifty-seven percent of you say the Fed's monetary policy has been "too accommodative," with only 28 percent calling it "just right." Wall Street pros are almost equally divided on the question with 39 percent saying "too accommodative" and 40 percent responding "just right."
We also asked both groups whether the U.S. economy will go into a recession over the next twelve months. Our 'Main Street' responders see an almost 60 percent probability of a double-dip. 'Wall Street' thinks there's only a 36 percent chance of that happening.
Over 16 percent of those who responded to our 'Main Street' survey, are 100 percent certain a recession is on the way.
'Main Street' is also more pessimistic about the outlook for stocks and expectations for 2011 and 2012 GDP growth.