Michigan consumer sentiment report

If you want to read a reasonably accurate summary of the latest Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey, go to the Reuters article by Burton Frierson entitled "April consumer confidence slumps to 26-year low." The news is rather gloomy, but keep in mind that consumer confidence measures are not very good indicators of future consumer spending and that in general they feed back more of what consumers are hearing from the media rathern than actual conditions that consumers may be experiencing. They make for interesting reading and lots of chatter, but otherwise add very little, if any, value beyond the primary economic data.

-- Jack Krupansky