Consumer Sentiment

Hey, it’s Friday, and economic data could be a boring read this late in the week, so why not use a title from a 1990s classic hip-hop song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgFU3U4X_Y)? Seriously, though, I didn’t sense much in the way of concern in the market regarding the February PPI report....

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) averages about 140 million shoppers each week in its U.S. stores and is considered a barometer of the health of consumers and the economy. Unfortunately, according to CEO Mike Duke, that health is still declining. "We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said...

Consumer Confidence numbers are due after the open at 10:00 ET. Wall Street estimates are for a reading of 56.1, versus the prior reading of 54.1. Stock futures are slightly positive going into the release of the data. Dow futures are up 14 points, S&P 500 futures are higher by 2.1 points and...

University of Michigan will release its November 2010 Consumer Sentiment Index numbers today reflecting consumer confidence at 10:00am EST. The Street estimates 74.8, while October came in at 74.2.

Notorious short seller Doug Kass just tweeted that he sees the potential for a markup in the markets later today after strong economic numbers. The Chicago PMI and Consumer Confidence numbers both came in above expectations.

The closely watched ABC Consumer Confidence was just released and it fell to -45, from -44.

What Do Long Term Interest Rate Trends Say About Future Stock Market Performance? Consumer sentiment fell from 73.5 in September to 69.4 in October. This comes despite the fact that equity markets across the world continue to go up and the DOW closing above 10,000 for the first time this year....

US Stock Markets are trading near the flat line today after several pieces of economic data provided a mixed picture of the economy. New home sales were slightly up in August but the results were below expectations. Some analysts see this disappointment as the ending of the $8,000 home buyer tax...