The latest consumer confidence numbers are out. It’s not good news. Apparently consumers are less confident now about the future than they’ve been in a while. The Consumer Confidence index dropped almost seven points from last month. Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “Consumer confidence is now back to levels last seen during the 2008-2009 ... Read More »

As crazy as this idea sounds, one thought floating around right now is that of forgiving large tracts of consumer and mortgage debt to swiftly deal with the debt problem in the country today so we can get consumption back on track. As long as consumers are buried in debt, and they are, with little growth there is no “little ... Read More »

Yesterday I published Revolving Debt Increases in May. Is This a Good Sign? and then a reader sent me a tipster (send in your tips here) message and pointed out an article The American Consumer May Now Be Maxed Out. The article draws the conclusion that: “We contend, in our original report on this series, “Retail Sales as Echoes of ... Read More »