Consumer confidence ticks up

The Conference Board’s gauge of consumer confidence rose to 65.9 in July from 62.7 in June, better than the 61.5 economists expected. 

The Conference Board is a well respected organization with lots of experts, but we are wondering if they get out and about.


There seems to be a double disconnect. The folks who sit on the Conference Board don't seem to be in touch with what is happening on the ground. And reporters (actually, are there any real reporters any more or are they all covering celebrities and other fluff?) who cover local news are (pick one or more) not equipped to report on what is happening with regard to economic activity in their localities; not asked by their editors to report on such things; don't care; think WE don't care.


With all of the social media and technology and apps, can't someone come up with something that tracks all of the little mini malls and construction projects that are going to house retail operations and employ people? Or does the Conference Board claim to do this?


Because I am seeing lots of them in my limited travels, and either there is something going on out here on the ground or there are a lot of dumb people investing in new projects who are going to get burned soon and the whole thing really is going to hell in a handbasket.

P.S. As we were writing this, this got posted by FoxBusiness: The manufacturing sector in the U.S. Midwest expanded at a slightly swifter pace in July than it did the month before. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago’s PMI gauge came in at 53.7, higher than expectations of 52.5 and a reading of 52.9 in June.