Consumer confidence is in the toilet.

No, I am not saying that consumers are bullish on Elgin :)

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index plunged to 87.3 in February from a revised 96.4 in January. It's the lowest level since October. Economists expected the Conference Board reading to fall to 92.9 in February from 96.8 January.

Looking forward, the Board's Expectations index sank to 96.8 from 107.8.

"The numbers are not good for the market or the economy in general as they show confidence is waning, especially if you look at the expectations figure," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst and strategist at S.W Bach.

The $64,000.00 question is: Will consumers keep spending? The real estate market in many areas is in bubble mode. This doesn't bode well for a sitting president. Time will tell.