U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Drops to 69.6 This Month
By Courtney Schlisserman
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. consumers fell more than expected this month, reaching a 16-year low, as the labor market cooled.
The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment decreased to 69.6 from 78.4 in January, the lowest since February 1992.
The first drop in employment in more than four years and higher gasoline prices are causing Americans to take a dimmer view of the economy and their financial situation. That may reduce consumer spending, which has already has slowed in recent months.
The first chart compares the SP 500 and Michigan Consumer Sentiment. There is a pronounced divergence between the stock market and Consumer Sentiment.
The second chart adds the SP 500 as deflated by gold, which shows a remarkable coincidence with the Consumer Sentiment.
One can only wonder.
“Thus, it should be understood that when pro-US figures use the term, 'rules-based international order,' they are not referring to anything analogous to the rule of law. Quite the opposite, they are using Orwellian language to describe a system in which essentially no rules can be established and/or observed, given that the dominant state has the prerogative to violate and/or rewrite “rules” at its whim.” Aaron Good, American Exception