Posts Tagged ‘Consumer Confidence’

Happy New Year

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

As 2008 comes to a merciful end hopefully it will take with it the era of lack of corporate accountability and the stream of bad economic news but I doubt it.

The end of the year brought news that another entity, GMAC Financial Services, the financing arm of General Motors will be bellying up to the Federal trough to the tune of $6 billion. One is forced to wonder who will be left out of the largesse once the printing presses runs out of ink or the dollar is rendered useless due to its overuse.

On the economic side the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for December registered a new all time record low.

Try and enjoy the football anyway.

Happy New Year!

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Bad data

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

With the Stock market recovering anywhere from 50% to 75% of its 2008 losses, depending on what index you are looking at, and analysts declaring a bottom is in for equities and the worst of the subprime fallout has hit, one may expect some number to back those statements up.

Unfortunately none were forthcoming on the eve of the Fed’s announcement on interest rates. Tuesday the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February showed continued weakness in the housing sector.

“There is no sign of a bottom in the numbers,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee in a release. “Prices of single family homes continue to drop across the nation,” Blitzer added.

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Bottom feeders

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

A remarkable thing has been going on in the midst of so much bad financial news of late.

Hope.

Somehow the collapse of one of the five largest investment banks, Bear Stearns, has been seen as a market bottom by many so called experts and the market itself apparently. Since the announcement of the Fed backed JP Morgan purchase of BS last week—which was amended yesterday— equity markets have experienced an impressive rally, nearly 800 points in the cash Dow since the lows of Monday March 17.

Why? Is it positive economic news? Not according to today’s numbers. The Conference Board announced today a 12 point drop in consumer confidence to 64.5 in March. The second consecutive double digit decline, keeping the index at a five-year low.

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