Consumer Confidence Throws a Pail of Water at the "All-Clear" Bulls

I’m sorry, but I’m sticking with my The Economy is Worsening schtick regardless of how much a handful of traders made on Amazon ($AMZN) over the last two days.

This morning’s Case-Shiller home sales data was chopped liver and now this beauty of a Consumer Confidence report hits the tape (via MarketBeat):

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index plunged to 44.5 from 59.2 in July, the lowest since April 2009 and not far above record lows set earlier in 2009. It was expected to come in at about 50.

As I’ve repeatedly said, this is a time for small stock weightings, preferably skewed toward value, dividends and low valuations.  The growthier stuff is going see multiple contraction, a very frustrating phenomenon for those who worship at the Temple of Momentum, they simply can’t understand it while it’s happening.

Tough to be short the overall markets with these valuations and sharp spikes can come from any number of surprises, including Buffett-esque white knight investments (see $BAC), radical jobs/Fed policies and other interventions that could happen over in Europe.

I’m just laying back in the cut, chillin’ out here.  No need to get loud or aggressive in either direction.