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.