Consumer Confidence down in April

By Rick Moran

The Conference Board's widely watched Consumer Confidence Index was down this month on fears of job losses and recession:

The New York-based Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index, which had plummeted in March, fell again to 62.3 in April, down from the revised 65.9 last month and the 76.4 level in February. While the reading was a little better than the 61.0 expected by analysts, the index remains at its weakest point since March 2003, when it registered 61.4, ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The Present Situation Index, which measures shoppers' current assessment of economic conditions, dropped to 80.7 in April from 90.6 in March. The Expectations Index, which measures the outlook over the next six months, was virtually unchanged at a depressed 50.1, compared to 49.4 in March.

The downbeat news on confidence came as the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed that housing prices dropped in February at the fastest rate ever, showing that the housing slump is gaining momentum and showing no signs of letting up.

With consumers sitting in homes that are losing value at historic rates, it's no wonder they have become pessimistic about economic prospects. Rising gas prices aren't helping matters any.

They key would seem to be getting the housing market to rebound quickly. The Fed is meeting over the next two days and is widely expected to drop interest rates again. It's really all they can do at the moment while hoping that the few trouble spots in the mortgage area - California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida - will finally bottom out and some kind of recovery will take place.