Consumer Confidence at all time low - Oct. 28, 2008

– A key measure of consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in October as the financial crisis weighed on American household budgets.

The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plummeted to 38 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 61.4 in September.

via Consumer confidence index at all-time low - Oct. 28, 2008

Gee, that’s hardly a surprise…..

A couple of thoughts about the report and what it means:

1. There has been a lot of really nasty stuff going on lately.  To say that this is a period of our history that will be talked about in economics classes and such for years to come is not an understatement.

2. The credit crisis has hit the consumer’s main stream of conciousness front and center.  While some of this is justified, some of this is overblown by the mainstream media.   I have to admit that I can’t watch CNBC for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time any more.   They are constantly drumming the “catastrophe” drumbeat and it’s depressing.    Are these tough times?  Absolutely.   Are they the worst we’ve seen since the depression?  Economically, probably.   I’d rather be here than in the middle of WWII again though.   Will people lose more jobs?   Yep, unfortunately they will.   Will more companies and banks go under?  Yep.

But will the world come to an end?   Not because of this.  The world will keep turning on it’s axis, the sun will keep rising in the east and setting in the west and life will keep on going.

As more time elapses and people start thinking logically and not reacting emotionally, we’ll start seeing signs of a bottom and there will be some people who make some phenomenal investments because they did their homework and moved smart.

I believe the quote from Warren Buffett goes something like this:  “I try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”

Others are fearful right now.   Should we talk about whether now’s the time for you to get greedy?

October 28, 2008