Econoday Economic Report: Consumer Sentiment April 15, 2011

2011 Economic Calendar

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Consumer Sentiment

Released On 4/15/2011 9:55:00 AM For Apr(p), 2011

	Prior	Consensus	Consensus Range	Actual
Sentiment Index - Level	67.5	69.0	65.0 to 71.5	69.6

Highlights
Consumer sentiment, at 69.6 for the mid-month reading vs March's 67.5, is improving but remains near six-month lows. The gain is centered in the expectations component which is the composite's leading component and which gained more than three points to a 61.2 level that, however, is still near a six-month low. The current conditions component, at 82.7 for a small gain, has been holding up better than expectations. Inflation expectations remain very elevated for the one-year outlook, unchanged at 4.6 percent, but they did fall back three tenths for the five-year outlook to 2.9 percent. This report is positive, pointing to another bounce off lows for consumer spirits.

Market Consensus before announcement
The Reuter's/University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index for the final March reading came in at 67.5, compared to 68.2 at mid-month which implies a 66.8 reading in the second half of the month. For the final reading for the month, March is down a sharp 10 points from February's reading of 77.5. Expectations, the leading component of the index, sagged in the final reading of March to 57.9 from a mid-month 58.3. Current conditions fell a little more than one point to 82.5.

Definition
The University of Michigan's Consumer Survey Center questions 500 households each month on their financial conditions and attitudes about the economy. Consumer sentiment is directly related to the strength of consumer spending. Consumer confidence and consumer sentiment are two ways of talking about consumer attitudes. Among economic reports, consumer sentiment refers to the Michigan survey while consumer confidence refers to The Conference Board's survey. Preliminary estimates for a month are released at mid-month. Final estimates for a month are released near the end of the month. Why Investors Care

Consumer sentiment is mainly affected by inflation and employment conditions. However, consumers are also impacted by current events such as bear & bull markets, geopolitical events such as war and terrorist attacks. Investors monitor consumer sentiment because it tends to have an impact on consumer spending over the long run (although not necessarily on a monthly basis.)

2011 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/14 1/28 2/11 2/25 3/11 3/25 4/15 4/29 5/13 5/27 6/17 7/1 7/15 7/29 8/12

Release For: Jan Jan Feb Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Jun Jul Jul Aug

Released On: 8/26 9/16 9/30 10/14 10/28 11/11 11/23 12/9 12/22

Release For: Aug Sep Sep Oct Oct Nov Nov Dec Dec