Confidence Near 2003 Bear Market Lows

- Consumer Confidence for November fell to 87.3 versus estimates of 91.0 and a reading of 95.2 in October.

BOTTOM LINE: Consumer confidence fell more than forecast in November, Bloomberg reported. The Present Conditions component of the index fell to 115.4 from 118 the prior month. The Expectations component fell to 68.7, the lowest since March 2003, right near the major bear market bottom. The proportion of people who said jobs are hard to get fell to 21.3% from 22.8% the prior month. I expect consumer confidence to bounce back in December as energy prices fall, the job market remains healthy and stocks rebound.