Yikes. The government and the business media keep telling Americans that the U.S. economy is rising like a phoenix out of the recessionary ashes.
But regular Americans keep pouring cold water on Uncle Sam’s bonfire.
The latest example of this comes from The Conference Board, and its monthly consumer confidence number. In October, The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 47.7, despite estimates from Wall Street analysts that the number would pop in at 53.1. Anything above 90 means the economy is OK – anything above 100 and we’re in rampant growth territory.
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So you don’t have to be Copernicus to figure out what a reading of 47.7 means.
But there’s a silver lining. With so little confidence in the economy, consumers tend to develop a “sixth sense” about value, and how to get a good deal.
Hence, our banking deals of the week. Despite the dismal economic climate, there are some honest-to-goodness low-risk value plays out there in the bank deposit climate.
