WTF is up with this consumer confidence report for May?

Remember, as you read this, that today is May 7th! Just because there's an uptick over 2 days it doesn't mean that consumer confidence will remain at this level throughout the month! Nor does it mean that the economy is really improving: consumer confidence is nothing more than the uneducated opinions of randomly (I hope) phoned people, who happen to be home.

Consumer Confidence Rebounds in May With Brighter Economic Outlook

By Martin Crutsinger The Associated Press
Published: May 7, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumer confidence, which has been on a roller coaster ride this year, rebounded over the past month as Americans took heart from a gusher of brighter economic news, especially in the area of jobs.

The AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index climbed to 87.4 in early May, up from a reading of 84.8 in April.

The index started the year strongly in January, only to dip in February, rise again in March and then plummet in April as Americans' attitudes have been tugged in different directions depending on the latest news out of Iraq or on the economy.

snip

The May index was based on interviews with 1,000 adults about the economy. The interviews were conducted from Monday through Wednesday. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

more...
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA6SVPXXTD.html

this is how cynical I am

This is absurd! I know it's a back burner issue right now, but...

How many back burners can one stove top have?

You can trust it,but i don't.

This reeks!

Look it up. In a good economy it might be fair. Those days are gone.

A former DUer and fellow corporate sleuth (we'll call him 'John') worked with me for awhile ... we constantly found Board members' bios saying that they belonged to this Roundtable; however, we could never find any one place where these folks congregate online.

I loved to know any info you might have. 'John' came across this website, and he felt he come 'close' ...

http://www.uscib.org/index.asp

Not too many people know of this Roundtable.

This has been my armchair focus ever since I discovered The Carlyle Group owns a company by the name of Empi which has patent for equipment which could be beneficial to someone suffering from, say, repetitive stress ... when the Bu$h gang repealed President Clinton's Ergonomic Regs just after taking power ... I started connecting dots.

Feel welcomed to join/share research at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/corporatesleuth/

The Trustees of this 'org' tie in so many in one place ..............

Dean R. O'Hare ---> member of The Business Roundtable
Chairman United States Council for International Business

Dean R. O'Hare was elected chairman of USCIB in February 2001. Prior
to that he served as a USCIB vice chairman, beginning in 1999. As
chairman, he provides overall guidance to the organization, and
chairs its executive committee and board of trustees.

Mr. O'Hare has been chairman and chief executive officer of The Chubb
Corporation since 1988. Founded in 1882 and based in Warren, New
Jersey, Chubb is one of the world's leading property and casualty
insurance companies, with 10,000 employees serving customers from 132
offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Mr. O'Hare began
his career with Chubb in 1963 as an underwriting trainee. He was
named an officer of the corporation in 1972, chief financial officer
in 1981 and president in 1986.

A leading voice of the business community on international trade
issues, Mr. O'Hare serves as a member of the President's Advisory
Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, chairman of the U.S.
Coalition of Service Industries and chairman of the Pacific Basin
Economic Council's services committee. He is the immediate past
chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council, a member of The Business Roundtable and the Global Business Dialogue on E-commerce, a member of the Board of the U.S.-China Business Council, and a financial governor of the World Economic Forum (Davos).

In addition, Mr. O'Hare is a director of Fluor Corporation and H.J.
Heinz Company; chairman of the New Jersey Partnership; a director and
past chairman of the American Insurance Association; a trustee of the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York; and a fellow of the New
York Academy of Medicine.

Born on June 21, 1942 in Jersey City, New Jersey, Mr. O'Hare
graduated from New York University in 1963, where he received a B.S.
in financial management. In 1969, he earned an M.B.A. from the Pace
University Graduate School of Business Administration.

````````````````````
Citigroup Inc.(""Citigroup'')located at 399 Park Avenue,New York, NY 10043 and its subsidiary, Salomon Smith Barney Holdings Inc.("SSB Holdings")located at 388 Greenwich Street, New York, NY
10013, jointly filed a Schedule 13G under the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 indicating that as of December 31,2001, Citigroup beneficially
owned 9,567,208 shares of Common Stock (approximately 5.6% of
the outstanding Common Stock on December 31,2001)with 9,387,288 of
such shares (approximately 5.5% of the outstanding shares of Common
Stock at December 31, 2001)being beneficially owned by SSB Holdings.
http://www.chubb.com/investors/Y53413_clean_1247.pdf

How many USCIB Trustees does it take to change a light bulb?


Trustees

(term expires at end of year indicated)


Gerald S. Adolph, Senior Partner, Booz Allen & Hamilton Incorporated
2004

Gerald Aksen, Esq., Partner, Thelen Reid and Priest
2004

Hon. Gerald L. Baliles, Esq., Hunton & Williams
2002

Mr. Ronald O. Baukol, Executive Vice President, International
Operations Retired; Member of the Board, 3M
2002

Mr. Dick Brown, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EDS Corporation
2003

Mr. Stephen G. Butler, Chairman, KPMG LLP
2004

Mr. Philip M. Condit, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The
Boeing Company
2003

Mr. James E. Copeland, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche
2004

John F. Crawford, Esq., Partner, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue
2002

Mr. Fermin Cuza, Executive-in-Residence, California State University,
Los Angeles
2002

Mr. Rene Dahan, Senior Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation
2003

Mr. George David, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United
Technologies Corporation
2002

Mr. Ralph Destino, Chairman Emeritus, Richemont North America, Inc.
2002

Mr. Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., Chief Executive Officer,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
2004

Mr. W.D. Eberle, Chairman, Manchester Associates, Ltd.
2003

Mr. Lawrence J. Ellison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Oracle
Corporation
2004

Mr. Michael L. Eskew, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United
Parcel Service
2004

Paul D. Friedland, Esq., Partner, White & Case LLP
2004

Mr. C. Meade Geisel, Jr., Private Investor, Hessler Properties, Inc.
2003

Mr. Samir G. Gibara, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
2002

Mr. John Gore, Group Senior Vice President, Government and Public
Affairs, BP P.L.C.
2002

Mr. Jeffrey P. Gotschall, President and Chief Executive Officer,
SIFCO Industries, Inc.
2003

Mr. Thomas A. Gottschalk, General Counsel and Executive Vice
President of Law and Policy, General Motors Corporation
2004

Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman, American International Group, Inc.
2004

Mr. Alan R. Griffith, Vice Chairman, The Bank of New York Company,
Inc.
2003

Mr. Rajiv L. Gupta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rohm & Haas
Company
2002

Mr. Alan G. Hassenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hasbro,
Inc.
2004

Mr. Benjamin W. Heineman, Jr., Senior Vice President, General Counsel
and Secretary, General Electric Company
2003

Mr. Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company
2002

Mr. Philip K. Howard, Vice Chair, Covington & Burling
2004

Mr. Jerry J. Jasinowski, President, National Association of
Manufacturers
2004

Ms. Andrea Jung, Chief Executive Officer, Avon Products, Inc.
2002

Mr. Richard M. Kovacevich, Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
2002

Mr. Romeo Kreinberg, Business Group President, The Dow Chemical
Company
2003

Mr. Jonathan S. Linen, Vice Chairman, American Express Company
2002

Mr. John A. Luke, Jr., Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive
Officer, MeadWestvaco Corporation
2004

Mr. John F. Manfredi, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, The
Gillette Company
2002

Mr. Richard D. McCormick, Chairman Emeritus, U S WEST, Inc. and
President, International Chamber of Commerce
2002

Dr. Henry A. McKinnell, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer, Pfizer Inc
2004

Mr. William H. Moore III, Partner, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
2004

Mr. James R. Nelson, President, Lockheed Martin Overseas Corporation,
Lockheed Martin Corporation
2004

Mr. Thomas M.T. Niles, President, United States Council for
International Business
2004

Mr. Dean R. O'Hare, Chairman & CEO, The Chubb Corporation
2003

Mr. Preston Padden, Executive Vice President, Government Relations,
The Walt Disney Company
2003

Mr. John M. Rintamaki, Group Vice President, Chief of Staff, Ford
Motor Company
2002

Mr. Robert E. Schjerven, Chief Executive Officer, LENNOX
International, Inc.
2004

Mr. Stratton Sclavos, President and CEO, VeriSign, Inc.
2003

Mr. Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications
2002

Mr. Alan G. Straus, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
2004

Mr. Sidney Taurell, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Eli Lilly and Company
2004

John M. Townsend, Esq., Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed
2003

Mr. James S. Turley, Chairman, Ernst & Young LLP
2004

Mr. William C. Turner, Chairman, Argyle Atlantic Corporation
2003

Mr. William H. Webb, Vice Chairman, Chief Operating Officer, Philip
Morris Companies, Inc.
2002

Mr. Frederick L. Webber, President and Chief Executive Officer,
American Chemistry Council
2003

Mr. Arnold F. Wellman, Senior Vice President, Domestic International
Government Affairs, United Parcel Service
2004

Edwin D. Williamson, Esq., Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
2004

Ms. Margaret S. Wilson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer, Scarbroughs
2004

Alan Wm. Wolff, Esq., Managing Partner, D.C. Office, Dewey Ballantine
2004

Mr. Paul W. Wood, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Unilever
United States, Inc.
2002

Mr. Willard A. Workman, Senior Vice President, International Affairs,
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
2002

http://www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=742

a standard quandary:

How do people do all the things their bios say they do? They can live well just on retainers.

PM me if you like ... these threads come and go so fast.

Consumers can be as confident as they want. When Reichsfuhrer Bush fired former Secretary of the Treasury O'Neill for being a little too candid with the press he went ahead and revealed in his book "The Price of Loyalty" that he had predicted a serious downturn in the economy for late 2004.

Greenspan came out yesterday and said the huge budget deficits were threatening the recovery and economic stability of the US. Hmmm....
starting to like O'Neill a little bit.

damn.

fat n happy Americans won't support a revolution in november