The Conference Board just reported that US Consumer Confidence, having bounced in June, has collapsed in July (and saw the bounce revised drastically lower). At 90.9, this is the lowest since September 2014 and is below the lowest economist estimate. More worrying is the crash in "hope" - as consumer expectations plunge from 92.8 to 79.9 (lowest since Feb 2014). This should not be a surprise since Gallup has been indicating fading confidence in its weekly survey for a while. 57% of Americans believe the US economy is "getting worse," which has left Gallup's [8]Economic Confidence Index [8] tumbling to its lowest in 10 months.
Confidence plunges...
[9]
Driven by a collapse in Hope...
[10]
Gallup's Economic Confidence Index continued its gradual, downward slide, reaching -14 for the week ending July 26. This represents a 10-month low for the index.
[11]
Meanwhile, 39% of Americans said the economy is "getting better," while 57% said it is "getting worse."
[12]
As Gallup concludes, [8] the findings are rather ominous...
Though Americans' confidence in the national economy has skewed negative for six months now, the recent drop of the current conditions component comes on the heels of a new path for solving the Greek debt crisis and amid a tumultuous period for Chinese stocks. The instability abroad could be fueling Americans' doubts about the health of the U.S. economy, not to mention that the Dow closed lower several days in a row last week.
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This is not good news for stocks...
[13]
Or more clearly...
pic.twitter.com/6RSg904eSF [14]
— Not Jim Cramer (@Not_Jim_Cramer) July 28, 2015 [15]
