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<p>Consumer Confidence from the Conference Board continued to worsen in September as fears over inflation and the COVID-19 Delta variant persist.&nbsp; As shown in the charts below, both the Present Situation and Future Expectations components contributed to last month’s decline.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://ns2020-investech.investech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cons-conf-present-future.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12146"/></figure>
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<p>As we noted in our most recent issue of <em>InvesTech </em>Research, an extreme negative spread between Future Expectations and the Present Situation has often preceded recession, and this spread continued to widen in the most recent report (see chart below).&nbsp; With Consumer Confidence notching its biggest two-month drop since last year’s pandemic-induced recession, the Conference Board warns that “<em>consumers have grown more cautious and are likely to curtail spending going forward</em>.”</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://ns2020-investech.investech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Consumer-Confidence-Future-minus-Present.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12147"/></figure>
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