Friday, May 25, 2012

May Consumer Sentiment Highest in More Than 4 Years; New Record Set for Nine Straight Increases


In another important milestone for America's "Plow Horse Economy," the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index increased in May for the ninth straight month.  That sets a new record for the most consecutive monthly increases in the history of the index going back to 1978.  It was also the most upbeat American consumers have been in more than fours years, since October 2007 before the recession started.  The May increase brings consumer confidence back above pre-recession levels for the first time since the recession started in December 2007. 

Here are links to news reports, one from the WSJ and one from Bloomberg, which says that "A record number of households said they'd heard better news on the jobs outlook, which combined with cheaper gasoline and an improving housing market may help sustain consumer spending and shield the economy from Europe's debt crisis."

Q: Don't the oil speculators get some of the credit for driving down gas prices at the pump over the last two months and helping to boost consumer confidence in May?

8 Comments:

At 5/25/2012 3:18 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Yes, and I'll take this as great news for the economy!

 
At 5/25/2012 3:49 PM, Blogger Moe said...

Speculators have infiltrated the sentiment market now.

 
At 5/25/2012 4:01 PM, Blogger bart said...

LOL on the speculators.

More seriously, both the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort index and the Citi Surprise index have been trending down hard for quite a while.

My best is that they'll win.

 
At 5/25/2012 4:10 PM, Blogger bart said...

http://www.nowandfutures.com/images/citi_surprise_sp500_gold.png

 
At 5/25/2012 5:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Check out the correlation between speculators and the price of oil.

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/publications/sources/crude/issues-prices/1553

 
At 5/25/2012 5:30 PM, Blogger Pulverized Concepts said...

I just bought $250 worth of consumer sentiment yesterday. It's for my mom's birthday.

 
At 5/25/2012 8:47 PM, Blogger OBloodyHell said...

>>> That sets a new record for the most consecutive monthly increases in the history of the index going back to 1978.

Ahhh, yeah, well, when you start with the bar that low, as they say, there ain't nowhere to go but "up!"

 
At 5/29/2012 10:33 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

this seems to show a very different picture:

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans' confidence in the economy in May had its biggest drop in eight months as consumers fretted about slow hiring, a big stock market drop and the global economy, says a private research group.

The Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April. It was the biggest drop since October 2011.

 

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