Consumer Pessimism Receding, Investor Confidence Up

Econoday reported yesterday that there are "more positives than negatives in the mid-March consumer sentiment report. The headline index edged 3 tenths higher to a still severely low level of 56.6. But expectations, the report's leading component, did rise 2-1/2 points to 53.0 -- indicating that pessimism isn't getting worse and perhaps hinting that pessimism may now be receding." The majority of economists were wrong as most were expecting the consumer sentiment index to fall during the month.

Rasmussen reported on Friday that "consumer and investor confidence continued to gain ground and is now at the highest levels since late January."

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, measures consumer confidence on a daily basis and it moved up for the third straight day. The index of 61.8 moved up four points from a week ago and is now over 60 for the first time since early February. Further Rasmussen says "confidence is the highest it’s been since January 23."

Investor confidence is also now at its highest level since late Jan.

"Fifteen percent (15%) of investors now say the economy is getting better, doubling the 7% who held that view just a few days ago (Tuesday)." This week saw "the number of investors who say the economy is getting worse fell from 75% on Tuesday to 64% today."

Consumer and Investment confidence is key as the economy reaches a tipping point, begins to exhibit more signs of recovery, and eventually returns to growth this summer.

Comments

[Doug Poretz:]

Bull! There are protests occuring arounbd the world -- see tinyurl.com/daaua9 -- there is a global movement of: 1) protests by the middle/working class in virtually every part of the world, some of which are very big (the French national protest of a few weeks ago ranged from a low estimate of 1 million to as much as 2.5 million -- Dublin: 120,000; Rome: 700,000; the list goes on) -- 2) the protests are aimed at ruling (sometimes formerly ruling) governments, bankers, investment community, certain corporations who are seen as responsible for the dire economic situation, and 3) the remedy they seek is for the government to spend money they do not have to provide relief to them as a priority over relief for those (bankers, etc) they deem to be responsible for the situation in the first place. Watch what happens with protests at the G20 meeting in London in a couple of weeks, followed by planned multi-city protests in the US.

Mar 16 09:16 AM

[The Good Ne...:]

Doug

While protests may occur at the G20 meetings, sentiment in the US is markedly on
the mend.

The general public (and many investors) are now fed up with gloom and doom and the “death of time”… ;-)

The G20 protests are nothing new and indeed reflect the brokenness of the world bankers as they relate to poorer countries. (These protests have persisted in good economic times and bad)

However your dire predictions of "massive protests" and "political turmoil" are significantly overblown and have no facts and data to back up your claims.

GNE

Mar 16 10:04 AM

[ArtfulDodger:]

Thank you for the good news. We need it!

Doug, hoi polloi are always raising hell about something, especially the youth, and mostly who is in the streets. They're in school and have little else to do with themselves.

Don't worry so much!

Mar 16 10:44 AM

[Larrysyr:]

These are, I think, signs of the bottom. It's not enough to proclaim happy days are here again, and I think the recovery will be painfully slow, but these are signs that the world isn't going to end this time around.

If there were food shortages or Hoovervilles sprouting up, I might change my mind.

Mar 16 04:16 PM

[blonde molly:]

i like your thinking, Larrysyr.

Mar 16 11:40 PM