American “consumers were even more optimistic in October than economists polled by Reuters expected,” Michael Sheetz reports for CNBC. “Consumer confidence rose to 125.9 in October, according to the Conference Board.”
“The index ‘increased to its highest level in almost 17 years,’ Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement,” Sheetz reports. “That was in December 2000, when the index hit 128.6.”
“‘[This was] boosted by the job market which had not received such favorable ratings since the summer of 2001,’ Franco said. The high level of confidence suggests the economy will continue to expand ‘at a solid pace’ for the rest of 2017, Franco added,” Sheetz reports. “The index takes into account Americans’ views of current economic conditions and their expectations for the next six months. Economists pay close attention to the numbers because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This certainly bodes very well for the economy in general and for makers of coveted goods, like Apple, in particular, going into the holiday shopping season.
It’s looking like a very Merry Christmas for Apple this year!
Now imagine if the U.S. Congress would actually enact much-needed personal income and corporate tax reform alongside a repatriation tax holiday.
Boom!
SEE ALSO:
U.S. jobless claims plunge to lowest level since 1973 – October 19, 2017
U.S. economy picks up steam; second-quarter GDP up 3.0% reflecting robust consumer spending and strong business investment – August 30, 2017
U.S. consumer confidence shows Americans upbeat on jobs, economy – July 25, 2017
MAGA
Many Asswipes Getting Arrested
Hard to feel sorry for the administration as the wheels fall off. Trump didn’t intend to drain the swamp. He brought in known scum with him. Lo and behold, Trump scum smells as putrid as any other brand.
Why are consumers confident right now? First of all, it isn’t because of this administration accomplishing anything. The Fed can be thanked for the loose money policy. The EU, a key trading partner, is again doing well. Amazon headquarters search and money grab has the biz press telling everyone that times must be good if Amazon is willing to build a big office with taxpayer money … right? Holidays ahead, housing bubble hasn’t yet burst, stock bubble hasn’t yet burst. GE layoffs haven’t hit yet. But let’s not ignore the gathering headwinds.
Check again in a year. If the Republicans pass a corporate welfare tax gift in the spirit of old mother Reagan, investors will cash in, brokers will get their unearned bonuses, and consumer confidence will be buoyed by the exciting reports of strong luxury car sales. If on the other hand the Republicans fall on their inept faces again and start focusing on their midterm campaigns instead of balancing the budget or investing in forward thinking infrastructure (as opposed to 1880 energy tech), then consumer confidence will decline in parallel with the civility of the Trumpian trolls.
Don’t bother attacking me as if i was a democrat. I am not. I am a fiscal conservative watching an inept administration divide and bankrupt a formerly strong nation for the benefit of corrupt business insiders.
You’re welcome.
Isn’t it amazing what 9 years of quantitative easing can do!
Quantitative easing (super low interest rates) bottomed out in 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2016. Since then, they are up 40%.
In other words, despite the effort of the Fed to screw Trump, the economy is better than ever.
Yellen will be gone in a week or so.
You don’t understand quantitative easing if you think it has anything to do with interest rates.
Quantitative easing is expansion of the money supply by having the central bank purchase financial instruments (bonds or mortgage backed securities for example) from banks. This encourages banks to lend money.
Low interest rates are supposed to incentivize consumers or entrepreneurs to take out loans … Except when it doesn’t work for example because industry consolidation and corporate dominance of patent and copyright limits the opportunity for new business, and overseas labor costs make production in first world countries a challenge.
The answer of course to small business & tech growth is less crony capitalism, but that’s not what the current administration is promising. The current administration is selling isolationism, tax breaks for the rich, and higher consumer prices thanks to protectionist trade barriers and a block of labor movement.
Who are they polling? Joe every man is not seeing this, sure there are jobs but most new jobs are minimum wage, and those of us in the so called middle class have seen stagnant wage growth for over 10 years, while cost of goods keep going up at a rate much faster than that. may the Tim Cooks of the world are confident with there multi million $$ pay and bonuses but not the majority. Been with the same fortune 500 company for almost 29 years and in the last 12 years I have had a total of 9% in wage increases and I have 0 confidence that things are getting better. (In actuality I have had -% in earning increase as the company I work for canceled our pension plan about 6 Years ago the value of that is way more than 9%) In the same time period our CEO has seen his total compensation increase 500% but hey it was tough to live on $1,000,000 a year.
If you want to live like a CEO, be a CEO.
Ooh, snap!
Why would the whining class do that? Becoming a CEO would take hard work and much effort. It’s much easier to piss, moan, and vote for empty promises from the likes of commies such as the decrepit Bernie Sanders and fauxahontas Elizabeth Warren (who are, of course, both multi-millionaires, by the way).
Reality check:
~360 million people in US
500ish large US corporations
2000ish smaller US corporations
No matter how smart one is, don’t assume you will be lucky enough to be a CEO.
Let me guess, you also think everyone can start his own profitable company too?
Must be all those looming indictments.
You can expect a maudlin canned, corporate condolence card from Pipeline Timmy tomorrow condemning the NYC Muslim attack while he continues his support of those Obamanesque policies that allowed it to happen.
Why don’t we wait for some facts before we start assessing blame? The attacker came from Central Asia, not the Middle East, and has been in the US legally since 2010. Given how long it takes to process visas, he might well have applied for entry before Obama took office… certainly before Obama had a chance to change Bush immigration policies.
every federal judge that blocked the President’s ban should be made to sit through the autopsies of these innocent Americans and personally inform their families.
What happened to the principle that whatever happens, the credit or blame accrues to the current leader? Just as Trump takes credit for a resurgence of consumer confidence, shouldn’t he absorb the blame for a terrorist attack on his watch? The same question can be applied to Obama and Dubya, and to all of their predecessors. And the answer in every case turns out to be the same—if the news is good, thank “my guy;” if the news is bad, blame his predecessor.
Ok, botvinnik, I’ll bite:
Could you please explain how a judge in 2017 bears any responsibility for the acts of somebody who legally entered the US in 2010 from a country that has never been listed in a Trump travel ban?
Apparently, that idiot judge thinks that letting these people in is good policy and their “right.”
Under international law, asylum seekers do have the right to flee war zones. But then , right wingers wouldn’t know or care what a war zone looks like. They only care about people born within a day’s patriotic horseback ride from their homestead.
Most of the people killed turned out to be foreigners but your point is still on the mark.