Right Side of the Rainbow

Reuters (via Yahoo News):

NEW YORK — U.S. consumers are heading into the holiday season in a much cheerier mood now gasoline prices are easing and the economy appears to be shaking off the impact of Hurricane Katrina, data on Wednesday showed.

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The University of Michigan’s final reading of consumer sentiment for November rose to 81.6 from 74.2 in late October, beating analysts’ forecasts of a rise to 80.5, according to sources who saw the subscription-only report.

“It looks like the economy is stabilizing after the hurricane-related stresses and we’re heading into the holidays with an upturn in confidence that is encouraging and bodes well for the good consumer spending over the next month or so,” said Gary Thayer, chief economist at AG Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.