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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ild who wrote (69017)	8/29/2006 10:04:46 AM
From: John Vosilla	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

And at the same time we have too many stock bears. Most sentiment indicators are quite bearish. I like the chart in Baron's every week which has been sitting in Panic mode for most of August. Yet the VIX is at the low end of the trading range. How to reconcile all this with the inverted yield curve and seasonal factors?

To: ild who wrote (69017)	8/29/2006 10:58:58 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 110194

Consumer confidence falls sharply in Aug. Confidence index falls to 99.6, lowest since last Nov. By Greg Robb, MarketWatch Last Update: 10:09 AM ET Aug 29, 2006 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumer confidence fell sharply in August, the Conference Board said Tuesday. The consumer confidence index fell to 99.6 in August from a revised 107.0 in July. This is the sharpest drop since Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast. The index is at its lowest level since last November, when confidence was recovering from the hurricanes. The fall in August was sharper than expected. Economists expected the index to drop to 102.7 from the initial estimate of 106.5 in July. See Economic Calendar. "Less favorable business conditions coupled with a less favorable job scenario" were the driving forces for the confidence drop, said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Looking ahead, the glass remains half empty as consumers are growing increasingly pessimistic about the short-term outlook," Franco said. The present situation index fell to 123.4 from 134.2, while the expectations index slipped to 83.8 from 88.9. The decline in confidence came despite a drop in gasoline prices in the month. Gas prices are down 11 cents since Aug. 1. Consumers' overall assessment of the economy was significantly less favorable in August. Those claiming conditions are "good" fell to 26.1% from 27.3%. Those claiming conditions are "bad" rose to 16.7% from 15.o%. The outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. Consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" fell to 24.4% from 28.6%. Those claiming jobs are "hard to get" increased to 21.1% from 19.6% in the previous month. Consumers expect more inflation over the next year. Inflation expectations over the next 12 months rose to 5.5% in August from 5.1% in July. This is the highest level since last October. End of Story marketwatch.com{4FAA7A43-EF8E-4916-ACAD-6B2D82CF8B3B}&dist=bnb