Consumer Confience Declines; Stocks Follow (SPY, QQQQ)
February 23, 2010 12:55 PM
The Consumer Confidence Index, as reported by The Conference Board, fell almost 11 points in February to 46 points. This is down from 56.5 points in January, and well below analyst predictions of 55 points for this month.
This news comes after three months of improved consumer confidence. Weak employment prospects and opportunities are driving households' pessimistic views of the economy and making consumers reluctant to spend money.
The Consumer Confidence Index is at its lowest recorded readings since reaching 40.8 in April 2009, signaling the economy may not be rebounding as steadily as some analysts have predicted.
Dow Jones Industrial average fell 65.75 points (-.63%) to 10317.63 as of 11:42am with the release of this information. This is expected because consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the Unites States' economic activity.
This may indicate a good time to take a short position in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (Nasdaq: QQQQ) which is down 1.30% today. Or, you can check out SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY), which follows S&P 500 stocks.
