Consumer confidence up...sorta

A quick compendium of economists' take on consumer confidence is about as clear as mud.

Confidence is up...sorta.

Spending is up...sorta.

More subprime woes in the works...kinda.

Basically, it is going to be hard to judge the economy by what people say, rather you're going to have to do it by what people do. People may say they have confidence in the economy, but if they're not going to buy houses and not going to go shopping, then clearly their confidence is slipping.

And oh, BTW, businesses don't seem it be in a great rush to spend either.