[Applause] [Music] And there you have it closing bell of The New York Stock Exchange it was a Good day for the Dow Jones yay stocks Are up roughly 500 points yeah look at All that green gym the S P 500 NASDAQ Also saw gains each around one and a Half percent we want to bring in now Dana Peterson the chief Economist of the Non-profit Think Tank the conference Board Dana good to have you so you know With all of the the happy green there Tell us what was driving the markets Today Sure I think it was the consumer Confidence report where confidence Picked up in December and also the Present situation was better indeed many Consumers were happier because gasoline Prices were lower in the month and so we Think that's really what Drive the Action in markets today I'll tell you It's uh the fact that confidence could Be up and that's a headline it's always So surprising to me because it feels Like consumers are constantly surrounded By the steady drum beat of what's not Right so you surprised at all Well I'm a little bit surprised but you know Certainly consumers have been hammered By elevated prices for gasoline Um but when I think about all the
Inflation food food prices are still Very elevated so a rent so consumers are Certainly not out of the water there but The key thing about our measures that we Pick up uh Visions in turn in terms of Employment and how consumers feel about The labor market and certainly the labor Market is definitely held up uh there's Still plenty of jobs out there and labor Shortages are pretty high so in that Sense many people feel that they have The opportunity to continue to earn They're seeing their wages rise and They're going out and shopping the one Thing I would caution is that credit Card use is up and so consumers are Definitely running out of that Discretionary income that's interesting Dan especially as we know the interest Rates have increased so that means that That all those credit cards are going to Start costing people a lot more you made Reference to the survey that your Organization released today uh showing Consumer confidence going up it actually Reached an eight-month I I'm wondering What are your expectations for consumer Confidence heading into 2023 Well I think consumer confidence is Probably going to potentially Edge lower Certainly as the labor market starts to Catch up with what's going on in terms Of interest rate hikes certainly we're Seeing the effects of interest rate
Hikes in the housing market we saw today That sales tumbled in yesterday housing Starts we're also careening and so That's that's reflective of the fed's Interest rate hikes and certainly as Consumers run out of that excess savings And start seeing the pinch in their Credit card bills they probably will Pull back Dana Peterson a very happy holiday to You and thank you Thank you
