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Posted by Monitor on June 24, 2008, 11:36 am
The Conference Board's confidence index fell to 50.4, the lowest level
since February 1992, from a revised 58.1 in May. Consumers were the
most pessimistic about the future in the 41- year history of the
index. A separate report today showed home prices in April dropped the
most since at least 2001.
Falling property values, rising unemployment and higher food and fuel
bills have shaken consumers and may cause purchases to slump once the
rebate money is gone. While price increases signal the Federal Reserve
may raise borrowing costs later this year, policy makers are forecast
to hold the target rate unchanged tomorrow as concern over growth
lingers
The market expects the fed funds rate will remain unchanged at 2.00%
``I don't think we're going to have the inflation problem that the
markets fear,''
The number one concern for the Fed right now is the financial crisis
and the impact from the financial crisis on the overall economy.
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