Consumer Confidence? Ha!
Courtesy of Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker
NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ — The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined in September, deteriorated further in October. The Index now stands at 47.7 (1985=100), down from 53.4 in September. The Present Situation Index decreased to 20.7 from 23.0 last month. The Expectations Index declined to 65.7 from 73.7 in September.
The kicker….
In fact, the Present Situation Index is now at its lowest reading in 26 years (Index 17.5, Feb. 1983). The short-term outlook has also grown more negative, as a greater proportion of consumers anticipate business and labor market conditions will worsen in the months ahead. Consumers also remain quite pessimistic about their future earnings, a sentiment that will likely constrain spending during the holidays."
Let me guess – Citibank’s decision to jack rates to 29.9% didn’t have anything to do with that?
Neither does the gross and outrageous under-reporting of jobless rates by the government?
Neither does the incessant attempts to jack up taxes by state and local governments (instead of cutting spending back to, for example, year 2000 levels)?
Neither does the fact that the very banks who managed to play the "end of the world" card just one year ago, effectively stealing government guarantees and handouts worth some twelve trillion dollars, are now paying record-level bonuses?
Neither does the fact that Bwarney Frank and Chris Dodder are "furious" about the credit card companies rate-jacking people, but they in fact wrote the bill to allow it to happen?
Neither does the Federal Government’s outrageous and insane refusal to acknowledge that we have too much debt, including at the federal level, and you can’t fix a drunk’s problem by giving him a bottle of whiskey?
Many people consider The American People to be "sheep."
It appears that The Sheep have watched a cadre of a dozen foxes (the billions of "campaign contributions") and five sheep holding a vote on what’s for dinner, and realized that in such a rigged game the best choice is not to play, kneecapping the foxes’ ability to feast.
Beware if your thesis of "economic recovery" requires consumers to "go out and shop", for it is damn hard to do when you have no job, your credit card interest rate was just jacked to 30%, you were laid off yesterday afternoon and you just got a foreclosure notice in the afternoon mail.
