Consumers Much Less Confident in June

How confident are you given everything our government is doing?

U.S. consumer confidence took an unexpectedly steep slide in June, figures released on Tuesday showed, suggesting the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the economy.

A separate report on April house prices in major cities offered some encouraging signs that the worst of the housing slump may be over, but that was not enough to lift investors' spirits, while another crop of economic data showed business activity in New York City and the Midwest remained weak and retail chains slogged through a rough June.

Billionaire investor George Soros added to the cautionary tone, saying fears of inflation would drive up borrowing costs and choke off growth once financial markets recover.

Major stock market indexes turned lower after the Conference Board's consumer confidence index showed households felt gloomier about their current situation, and less optimistic about the eventual economic recovery.

Kevin Kruszenski, head of listed trading at Keybanc Capital Markets in Cleveland, said the confidence data "kind of took the wind out of things a little bit."

The confidence index fell to 49.3 in June from 54.8 in May. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a healthier reading of 55.0 for this month.

George Soros' entire investment strategy is based on continued economic troubles. No wonder he's talking the economy down.

When you add in the inflationary factors that will undoubtedly kick in thanks to the stimulus spending, the new taxes being proposed by cap-and-trade and nationalized health care, why should Americans be confident?