Friday, August 5, 2011

Consumer Confidence

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 47.6 in the period to July 31, the lowest since May, compared with minus 46.8 the prior week. Two of the comfort index's three subcomponents declined last week. The measure of personal finances fell back into negative territory after two weeks of positive readings. The buying climate index fell to the lowest level since early June. The gauge of Americans' views of the economy, which is the difference between those with positive versus negative opinions, rose to minus 86.5 from a more than two-year low. Even here, the news wasn't good. Fifty percent of respondents gave the economy a poor rating, the worst of four categories. That's the highest share in more than a year.