Feb Consumer Confidence was awful as it fell 10 pts to 46, the lowest since April ’09. Expectations were for a small drop to 55. The Present Situation fell almost 6 pts to the lowest since Feb ’83 while Expectations fell by 13.5 pts to the lowest since July ’09. Those that said Business Conditions are Good fell to a record low dating back to 1967. Those that said business was Bad rose 1.6 pts but is almost 5 pts below the Mar ’09 high. Those that said business will get better over 6 mo’s fell by 4 pts and those saying it will get worse rose by 2.6 pts. Those that said jobs were Plentiful fell .8 pts to 3.6 but remains above the low of 3.1. Those that said jobs were Hard to Get rose 1.1 pts to 47.7 but is below the high of 49.4. Those that plan to buy a home within 6 mo’s did rise by .3 pts to the highest since Aug ’09 and those planning to buy major appliances rose to the most since May ’09. Those that plan to buy a car fell .4 pts. Whatever recovery we think we are having is still not believed by those who are trying to generate it.
