Economics Update

People are not feeling confident right now, Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 64.5, and the expectations index fell to 47.9, the latter being the lowest since December 1973.

Not surprisingly, the dollar is down as a result, though the fact that the Federal Reserve continues to run those printing presses like they were making toilet paper for rancid burrito day may have contributed.

In real estate, Freddie is seeing mortgage delinquencies increasing.

We are also seeing an explosion in payday loans, which means people are being abused by the system just as Bear shareholders are getting a freebie courtesy of the Federal Reserve.