Consumer Confidence Tumbles Sharply To Nine-Month Low

[Purveyor]

Source: LA TIMES

WASHINGTON -- Consumer confidence tumbled sharply this month to its lowest level since July amid a slew of discouraging economic reports and continued gridlock in the nation's capital, according to a leading barometer.

The consumer sentiment reading compiled by Thompson Reuters and the University of Michigan fell to 72.3 in the preliminary reading for April, down from 78.6 last month, Reuters reported Friday.

Economists had expected the reading to stay about the same.

Instead, with recent data indicating a slowdown in the recovery and large federal budget cuts kicking in, consumers expressed more pessimism about the state of the economy and their long-term outlook.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-consumer-confidence-michigan-reuters-20130412,0,6759202.story

[moondust]

1. Six-year high in optimism, CNN poll shows

(CNN) – As the stock market continues to show record highs, the number of Americans who say things are going well in the country has reached 50% for the first time in more than six years, according to a new national survey.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/12/mood-of-the-nation-six-year-high-in-optimism-cnn-poll-shows/?hpt=hp_t2

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. Financial data versus a CNN poll.

If polls were reliable, Dewey would have actually beaten Truman.

[Purveyor]

4. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index has been around since 1952. I'll bet on

their numbers before "CNN".

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. Do you wonder what the impact will be for offering to cut SS?

Is that going to boost consumer confidence?

[Yo_Mama]

6. There is some support for the idea that SS cuts contributed to the decline

There was a sudden decline in consumer confidence over the last couple of weeks.

Food prices are beginning to rise, but I'm betting that the proposal to cut SS is behind some of this.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

7. I believe that if there is not sufficient push-back in the immediate future by Democratic Senators

and Representatives, consumer confidence will continue to fall as some signifigant number of voters come to believe that they cannot rely upon top-level politicians in the Democratic Party to look out for their economic interests.

Even 18-year old voters should readily understand that if it is the position of the Democratic Party (with few exceptions) to join Obama in throwing seniors under the bus for the benefit of the rich and the super-rich, they don't have much of an economic future.

If there is not push-back on the chained-CPI proposal, there will be even more proposals to cut Social Security payouts. It's just a start. What kind of economic future can anyone other than the rich and the super-rich expect?

[Yo_Mama]

11. In total agreement

And if all those 50ish people think they have to save even more for retirement, they'll save more now and it will impact the economy.

I keep remembering the part in the VP debates where Biden stared at the camera and swore to us all that they would protect Medicare and SS.

There are also proposals in the president's budget to raise deductibles and limit payouts on Medicare gap policies plus Medicare Advantage. But many seniors can't possibly pay their medical costs otherwise. The recent news about seniors being denied cancer treatments at clinics didn't explain it well, but in many of these clinics the seniors being dumped were those who didn't have secondary insurance and so wouldn't be able to pay their copays.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2014/assets/reducing.pdf
There is also a proposal to further cut Medicare by lowering the IPAB board limits:

Increase Income-Related Premiums Under Medicare Parts B and D.
Under Medicare
Parts B and D, higher income beneficiaries pay
higher premiums. Beginning in 2017, the Budget
proposes to restructure income-related premiums
under Parts B and D by increasing the lowest
income-related premium five percentage points,
from 35 percent to 40 percent and also increasing
other income brackets until capping the highest
tier at 90 percent. The proposal maintains the in
-
come thresholds associated with income-related
premiums until 25 percent of beneficiaries under
Parts B and D are subject to these premiums.
...
Promote Targeted, Shared Responsibility
for New Beneficiaries.
The Budget proposes
three targeted policies to promote appropriate
use of health care for new enrollees in Medicare
starting in 2017. First, to strengthen program fi
-
nancing and encourage beneficiaries to seek high-
value health care services, the Budget proposes
to apply a $25 increase in the Part B deductible
in 2017, 2019, and 2021 for new beneficiaries.
Second, Medicare beneficiaries currently do not
make co-payments for Medicare home health ser
-
vices. This proposal would create a home health
copayment of $100 per home health episode for
new beneficiaries, applicable for episodes with
five or more visits not preceded by a hospital or
other inpatient post-acute care stay. This pro
-
posal is consistent with a MedPAC recommenda
-
tion to establish a per episode copayment. Third,
to encourage more efficient health care choices,
the Budget proposes a Part B premium surcharge
equivalent to about 15 percent of the average Me
-
digap premium for beneficiaries that purchase
Medigap policies with particularly low cost-shar
-
ing requirements.
Medigap policies sold by private insurance
companies cover most, or all, of the cost-sharing
Medicare requires. This protection, however,
gives individuals less incentive to consider the
costs of health care services and thus raises Medi
-
care costs and Part B premiums. Together these
proposals will save approximately $7 billion over
10 years.

[CountAllVotes]

5. go ahead and cut SS

and you'll see the likes of a Great Depression II.

Many seniors, etc. want nothing to do with the stock market due to failing health and need for secure investments. There are none now, none but 1% here and 1% there to be found. The stock market it is a no news item to people in this boat, and I am one of them as the stress of having money in the stock market is not good for my health and I know it, so I have no investments in it and have been advised not to have any in it given my health.

Hence, we see the low consumer spending as most of the CDs people were holding are matured now and there is no where to put insured investments. So, what do you do? You do not spend, you sit on what money you may have and buy as little as possible and forget about that vacation you were planning!

If they think it is down now, try this chained CPI B.S.

If they want the economy to improve, the interest rates, which are artificially low and, even though banks giving out cheap new car loans, who can afford to take out a loan when they have nothing to pay for it with (i.e. dividends for insured investments no longer exist you dummies!). This is like bubble waiting to go bust again with giving out loans to people that would otherwise not qualify for them. Brilliant move there, brilliant!

I recently bought a new desktop computer and is was a piece of complete junk and I sent it back rather than keep it. It cost $600.00. My spending is way down on other items as well compared to where I was a few years ago.

Prices on my medications have gone up from $25.00 co-pays to $100.00 in 3-years and yes, that is the truth. That is an increase of 450%!

I receive $930.00/mo. from SS and I've been scraping by for years now living in fear of something like the chained CPI crap. Do I receive too much? I worked for 25 years of my life before I got sick and no, I don't think so as I don't receive enough to live on and am considering selling the house and moving somewhere else where housing may be more suitable for me. At this point I cannot do much of anything as far as painting, yard maintenance, etc. If I have to spend money on "luxuries", those "luxuries" will be things like hiring someone to come over and cut the lawn, etc.

This is certainly my case and many others as well and it will only continue to worsen and no, I am not buying a new car, I'll drive the one I have until I can no longer drive and/or the wheels fall of it. Hence, I do not spend much on luxury items like new clothes. Everything I buy is either 2nds or second hand it seems and as for that new computer I need, I ended up buy a used on on EBAY for $38.00. I hope it works, that is all I can say (have yet to receive it). Food is all bought at Costo or Winco. I buy no meat as it is too expensive. I cannot afford $20.00 for a steak.

I'm really sick of this to say the least! It is a sad life for many these days except for the rich!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. What you say should be readily understood by even the

smartest chessmaster.

How can anyone have confidence in their economic future if Obama is willing to throw seniors under the bus?

Supposedly, the DOW is doing great because it is at the higher levels again. But who, at the consumer level, is going to willingly buy more of whatever the corporations are selling when they anticipate that their incomes will not keep pace with actual inflation? The stock market is a bubble.

[llmart]

10. I'm a senior on a fixed income.....

and most of the seniors I know in my age group 60-65 are scared to death. We are paying for our own health insurance because we don't get it through an employer - most employers find a way to lay us off or cut hours to below full time. Personally I have an extremely high deductible and am so grateful to be healthy and hope I can stay that way at least until I'm 65. I'm extremely employable with many skills but once I have the face to face interview it's thanks, but no thanks (aka overqualified). I have no discretionary income. I currently live on $1200 a month. I can't remember the last time I had a vacation. I, too, will drive my old car until it completely dies on me and then I'll deal with what to do. I can't think that far in advance.

Our particular group of baby boomers are in for a big shock.

[alp227]

9. IMF to cut US growth forecast amid downbeat retail and confidence data

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/12/us-economy-budget-imf-world-forecasts