Consumer confidence soars with "end" of war
Some good news in the bleak economic outlook...that is if it were to translate into anything useful: consumer confidence increased significantly this month according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence leapt to 81 in April from 61.4 in March, the second largest gain since its monthly surveys began in 1977. The largest gain occurred in March 1991, after the end of the first Gulf War, when the index rose to 81 from 59.
Still, the gain doesn't mean the economy is out of the woods. Confidence is only a little bit above its January level and remains below the lowest levels reached in the 2001 recession. Furthermore, some of the details of the report suggest improved confidence won't translate into a burst of spending. The proportion of respondents to the mail-in survey planning to buy a car in the next six months fell to 5.9%, the lowest since 1996, despite generous manufacturers' incentives.