AMERICAN CONSUMERS WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE

The following clip is from an article posted over at Reuters.com:

U.S. consumers turned more gloomy in October, beset by soaring energy prices, relentless violence in Iraq and the increasingly bitter end of the presidential election campaign.

The Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence fell to 92.8 in October, the lowest level in seven months, from 96.7 the prior month, the private business group said on Tuesday. The reading was below economists' expectations for a dip to 94.0.

The main index was dragged down mainly by consumer expectations, which tumbled to 92.0 from 97.7. The current conditions index slipped to 94.2 from 95.3.

"Consumers are more concerned about the future than they are about current conditions and I think that has a lot to do with the high oil prices we're seeing and probably some of the election rhetoric," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

Some of the election rhetoric? Good call, bright eyes! Sheesh, ALL of the election rhetoric is making me worried for the future.