Consumers Apparently Reading Angry Bear

Maybe people reading my bearish post from last week was the cause of this:

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Consumer confidence plunged in August, hurt by worries about jobs, a research group said Tuesday, in a report that fell far below forecasts by private economists. The Conference Board, a business research group, said its confidence index sank to 98.2 from a reading of 105.7 in July. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the index would slip to only 103.4.

On the other hand, maybe this decline in consumer sentiment is simply due to the reality that the job market is just not doing very well right now. And that the Bush administration can’t provide any economic leadership to speak of.

Kash