Consumer confidence has fallen to levels that we have not seen for nearly 35 years. According to the Confidence Board, consumer confidence in March has dropped to 64.5, a level not seen since the Nixon administration.
There are three main factors contributing to the erosion of consumer confidence currently; falling stock prices, falling home values, and finally… the dollar setting record lows against the euro. It seems like everyday we turn on our televisions and are instantly fed more bad news regarding the overall economy, so it should really come to no surprise that confidence has suffered.
Housing prices are also in the news, as the S&P/Case- Shiller home price index fell 10.7% during the month of January. This comes on the heels of a 9% decline in December, and marks the 13th straight month that the index has fallen.
This month’s confidence numbers had been expected to drop, but not nearly as much as it actually did. Analysts had expected to see a drop from 75 to 73.5.
The market was initially heading into the red early this morning, but has rebounded in the afternoon session, and the major indexes are all up about 0.5% with a couple hours left in the day.
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