With upwards of 70% of the US Economy being consumer spending driven, it’s not good news that the final for consumer confidence missed expectations, 70.3, as opposed to the forecast 71.0, but it does reflect the fact that the final number for economic growth in the 2nd quarter was revised downward.

The fact that August new home sales are the lowest since 1982, which was not a great year for the economy either, points to the fact that the economy sucks in the real world too.

Of course, while all this is going on, Congress is still fighting over bailing out Wall Street, which has lead to a muddled picture for the dollar.

That beins said, it’s clear that the energy markets are banking on a recession with both oil and retail gasoline heading lower.

All this uncertainty is why 30 year mortgage rates exploded this week, going from 5.78% last week, to 6.09% this week.

31 basis points in a week….Ouch.

FWIW, the central banks are shoveling cash out the door, which will eventually start devaluing the currency (inflation).