Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump, consumer confidence, and what it means.

New consumer confidence numbers came out, and they have declined.

If you understand these numbers, I'll give you the important one up front. The expectations index fell to 83.9.

Now, let's start with what consumer confidence is. It's one of those terms we hear all the time.

And from context clues, you have a pretty good picture. But what does it actually measure? So, the Consumer

Confidence Index is a survey administered by the conference board. It measures how people feel

about the economy right now and how they feel about future prospects. The survey asks a series of

questions and those answers develop two

different indexes. One is the present situation index. The other is the expectations index.

The relative value of the answers are calculated and you get a score. 100 in the score is how people felt in 1985. Why

1985? Because that was kind of a basic neutral and confidence. Kind of Goldilocks, if you will,

not too hot, not too cold. So, where are we right now? The overall consumer confidence index declined to

104.1. Sure, it's down, but still kind of Goldilocks. The present situation index, which is

current business and labor conditions, fell 9.7 points to 134.3.

Then we have the expectations index.

It fell to 83.9.

When that number drops below 80, it historically indicates a recession on the horizon.

I say a lot that our economy is based on faith, and that's true in a whole lot of

ways. When faith is shaken, the people lose confidence in the future. They adjust their spending habits.

If you aren't sure about how things are going to play out because, hypothetically speaking,

the president might do something to upset the economy.

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