I was just reading the notes from today's Consumer Confidence Index.

People really are getting the message about job growth. At its best, it has been tepid during this recovery, and at its worst, well, we lost jobs. This is hardly a revelation as employers usually don't hire in expectation of a recovery, but only after the fact that the trend is clear. So this is a backward looking indicator.

I think what spooked Wall Street was that people surveyed have a less favorable outlook for the future than at any time since last October. Wall Street, of course fears that Main Street will rein in personal spending.

There is some evidence to support this, as new housing starts dipped 8% in January, and major appliance sales are sharply down, while car sales fared better.

Essntially people are growing more concerned about the direction in which the economy is heading.

The trend is your friend, and the last two months may not be the start of a new downturn, but it bears watching closely.