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Higher Confidence Number Is a Huge Plus

By Jim Cramer

 About this article:
 Consumer confidence up? How can it be this important? Because, again, the secret to ending a deflationary spiral like that we are in is to have consumers spend, spend and spend some more. You have to go back to the Japanese comparison to understand the significance of this number. In Japan, consumer confidence never returned after the stock market crash, and people hoarded money. They simply wouldn't part with it. Two-thirds of our economy is consumption-based, so this number gives us hope that consumption can reignite even though employment and house prices are down. How could it happen? Why is confidence up? I think it is directly related to the third month in a row -- at least at this moment -- that stocks are up. That's a terrific sign, one that could mean that everything from Apple and Hewlett-Packard to Ford , Best Buy...

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