>I don't know what the pollsters mean by 'consumer sentiment',
Consumer sentiment (UMich) and consumer confidence (Conference Board) are composite indexes, based on a bunch of questions about the economy, the job market, buying plans, etc., both evaluations of the present and expectations for the next 6-12 months. They correlate quite tightly, usually with a short lead time, with broad economic trends.
>And what does it mean to say: "Only a few industries, like
>telecommunications and computers, are still working off excess stocks"?
>How does a telco work off excess stocks? Cutting off subscribers?
They're talking equipment, not services, mostly.
>Methinks stuff can still go very wrong while the US depends on credit and
>the world depends on the US.
Could, yes. Might not, though.
Doug