The DJIA has not moved much since mid-month and today was no exception with all three major indexes close to flat.

The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 52.9 for December, up from up from 50.6 in November. Both numbers are extremely low compared to a reading of closer to 90 in an expanding economy. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home price rose a tiny .4% from September to October, but the most recent figure for the housing market was still down 7.3% from last year. Housing prices may be about to find a bottom, but, if so, the case for it is still shaky.

The unofficial closing bell numbers:

Dow 10,545.41 -1.67 (-0.02%)
S&P 500 1,126.19 -1.59 (-0.14%)
Nasdaq 2,288.40 -2.68 (-0.12%)

Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) is about the only company of note scheduled to release earning results in what will otherwise be a very quiet week between the holidays.

The three months that ended in November saw the poultry industry embroiled in an environment-related lawsuit, and Cal-Maine also ended its streak of special dividends when it reported a first-quarter loss.

Perhaps lost in all the Tiger Woods related news surrounding the company is Thursday's earnings announcement from Nike (NKE).

Late in the day, Nike announced second-quarter earnings of $375 million, or 76 cents per share. A year ago, Nike raked in $391 million, or 80 cents per share. Total revenue for Nike dropped 4% to $4.4 billion. The Street expected Nike to report earnings of 71 cents per share on revenue of $4.4 billion.

The retail industry got some good news today as the Commerce Department announced that retail sales rose more than expected last month.

Before today's report, analysts had predicted that we would see a 0.7% jump in retail sales last month, but the actual figures showed a much higher 1.3% increase during the month. This comes on the heels of a 1.1% increase in October.

You are probably wondering, is there an index that measures consumer optimism and pessimism? The answer is yes. It is the Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence or IBD/TIPP.Their Optimism Index slipped to 46.8 in December, from 47.9 in November. Readings above 50 indicate optimism, while those below 50 indicated pessimism.

The index is now 3.2 points below its 12 month average of 48 and 2.4 points above its reading of 44.4 in December 2007, when the recession began.

The conventional wisdom is that consumer spending is what drives the U.S. economy. And consumer spending arises out of consumer confidence. Unfortunately, the signals along the road to economic recovery are mixed, what with the rising GDP growth and the dismal unemployment numbers. Its enough to leave investors scratching their heads. What barometers of consumer confidence will the coming week bring?

The TIPP Economic Optimism Index for November is scheduled for Tuesday, and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for November is due out Friday.

Consumer confidence ticked upward for the first time since 2007. Around the world, consumers are becoming more comfortable with the prospect of shelling out some cash, even if they're still approaching the notion with caution.

According to a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company between September 28 and October 16, 2009, consumer confidence was highest in India, with Indonesia and Norway following. Japan, Latvia, Portugal, and South Korea were at the other end of the spectrum, though South Korea did show a significant quarterly improvement.

Oil prices dropped a bit today, as investors weigh news that consumer confidence took a hit in September.

Today's move was not a sizable one, but further evidence that investors are concerned over just how strong the current economic recovery really is. News came out today that consumer confidence is down in September as more Americans are concerned over the weak job market.

As we continue to question whether or not America is emerging from the recession, one indicator that a lot of people are paying attention to is consumer confidence. Unfortunately, consumer confidence fell unexpectedly this month, as more and more people are worried about their jobs.

According to the New York-based Conference Board, its consumer confidence index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from 54.5 in August.

The dip ends a three month streak, and is being blamed mostly on Americans concerns over job security. The drop raises concerns over any economic rebound, and comes at a bad time for retailers that are gearing up for the upcoming holiday season.

Autumn has arrived and the quarter winds down this week. The Dow has been inching toward 10,000 for a while now, though it closed lower in the past three sessions. Can it make it to 10,000 for the start of the third quarter? If so, what will push it higher? If not, what will drag it down further?

• Monday is Yom Kippur, the most solemn of the Jewish holidays; trading likely will be lighter than usual. In the evening, the FDIC meets to discuss how to rebuild the Bank Deposit Insurance Fund.
• Tuesday, the Consumer Confidence Index for September is due and the SEC holds a public meeting to consider more short sale actions.

Oil took a beating tyesterday, as investors sold off the precious crude in the wake of a weak consumer confidence report that renewed pessimism towards economic recovery.

The University of Michigan reported that its consumer confidence index dipped to 63.2, down from 66 in July. This is the second straight month that the index has moved lower, after a four month streak of gains. In June the index was up at 70.8, which was the highest since back in February 2008.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) will be reporting its second quarter earnings before the market opens on Monday, and there are some positive indicators that it may have been a good quarter for the company.

Over the past year, weak consumer confidence has put a strain on Lowe's, as home owners who have worried about job security and a weak housing market have put off home repair projects. As a result, Lowe's stock fell as low as $13.00 back in March, but has rebounded nicely over the past few months to its current trading price of $22.71.

Need another 'green shoot' to bolster your investment sentiment? Try this one: confidence in the global economy surged to a 22-month high in August on signs the worst global recession since the end of World War II is nearing an end.

The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index soared to 58.12 this month from 39.13 in July. The survey sampled more than 2,300 Bloomberg users August 3-7.

Last week offered mixed messages about whether an economic recovery is indeed underway. The unemployment figures were not as bad as feared, but July sales numbers were nothing to write home about, despite the wild popularity of the so-called cash-for-clunkers program.

The question is, where has consumer confidence (and consumer spending) been? Retail is a good place to look, and as it turns out, this week several shopping mall and strip mall favorites will be reporting earnings for the most recent quarter.

When we looked at oil prices yesterday, we noted that the market was going to pay close attention to today's inventory report from the Depart of Energy.

Oil was already weak after yesterday's report on consumer confidence, and today's oil inventory report showed a much larger than expected increase in oil inventories, pushing prices sharply lower.