MUFG chief fincl economist Chris......>

US DATA REACT: MUFG chief fincl economist Chris Rupkey noted Conference Board

consumer confidence survey "falls a sharp 6.5 pts to 122.1 in Dec. as consumers

are less impressed with those massive tax cuts than earlier survey readings

found. The economy isn't going off the rails or anything but this does inject an

air of caution into the 2018 economic outlook. The big jump in confidence in

October due to tax reform hopes have come completely unraveled. You can give

workers a break on their taxes, but you can't guarantee they are going to spend

their paychecks and help make the economy grow. Today's setback for consumer

sentiment may endanger the Trump economics team's plan for the tax cuts to pay

for themselves if we don't see faster economic growth. A key driver of

confidence is the labor market and consumers say jobs are not so plentiful this

month."

- He adds "net, net, consumers are less confident about the outlook at the end

of the year despite having their pockets stuffed with tax cuts cash by the Trump

administration and U.S. Congress."