Reply #60: U.S. consumer confidence falls 11 points

[Roland99]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-confidence-falls-11-points-2010-02-23

Consumer confidence fell sharply in February as Americans turned more pessimistic about job prospects and the U.S. economy, the Conference Board reported. Just a month after touching a 16-month high, the board's Consumer Confidence index sank 11 points to 46.0 from an upwardly revised 56.5 in January. It's the lowest reading since April 2009. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch, who were looking for a slight drop to 55.5 points from the previously reported January level of 55.9

Great comment on another article at MarketWatch:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-fall-along-with-consumer-sentiment-2010-02-23?siteid=trackedcomment#comment3632573

Ok, to all economists and analysts who expected a RISE in consumer sentiment, it's time for a FIELD TRIP! Let's all put down the calculators and spreadsheets and graphs for a day and step outdoors. Don't forget your sunglasses, since your eyes may be very sensitive to outdoor light at first.

We're going to go and talk to PEOPLE. Yes, I know, it's a strange concept. They're the bipeds you may see out on the sidewalks or milling around in stores or, perhaps, sitting at their home computers playing online games when they're supposed to be searching for jobs that don't exist. Talk to these PEOPLE for a while, and then report back on where you think consumer sentiment will land next month.