The gap between Wall Street and Main Street continues to widen. Stocks hit a new bull-market high this morning as a weaker than expected consumer sentiment number was released. Bloomberg reports:
The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 72.5 from February’s final reading of 73.6. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the gauge would increase to 74, according to the median estimate…
The index of expectations six months from now, which projects the direction of consumer spending, declined to 67.2, the lowest level since November, from 68.4 last month.
The article attributes the declining sentiment to, “Americans discouraged about the labor market.” This chart from the gents at Annaly would support that assertion:
It seems to me that either the stock market is too optimistic or consumers are too pessimistic and it will be interesting to see how this divergence is resolved.
Disclosure: long SDS