UMich December prelim consumer sentiment 74.0 vs 73.0 expected

• Prior was 71.8
• Current conditions 77.7 vs 63.9 prior
• Expectations 71.6 vs 76.9 prior
• 1-year inflation 2.9% vs 2.6% prior
• 5-year inflation 3.1% vs 3.2% prior

This report isn’t about consumer spending, it’s about politics. Act accordingly:

• Republican sentiment up to 81.6 from 53.6 in October
• Democrats down to 70.9 from 91.4 in October

This isn’t a serious survey.

I suspect the jump in one-year inflation expectations is about tariff fears. Shame on the Fed if they read anything into this survey.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.