Propaganda Ensues as Bloomberg Buys Objective Consumer Confidence Poll

02-25-2011 • Bloomberg.com

The Bloomberg gauge of consumer confidence, formerly the ABC News U.S. Weekly Consumer Comfort Index, was minus 39.2 in the week to Feb. 20, compared with minus 43.4 the prior week. Forty-nine percent of those polled held positive views on their financial situation, the most in a year. The biggest two-month drop in the jobless rate since 1958 may be helping lift households’ spirits, boosting the odds that spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, will keep growing. Orders for U.S. durable goods, which are meant to last at least three years, climbed 2.7 percent in January as demand for aircraft rebounded after plunging the previous month. The Commerce Department’s figures showed bookings excluding transportation equipment unexpectedly fell, reflecting a recurring pattern of declines in capital goods in the first month of a quarter.