Ahead of the Tape
Seeking Clues in Mixed Sentiment Signals</br></br>"Stocks Rise on Strong Consumer Sentiment."</br></br>A headline reading something like that, or its inverse, is a distinct possibility Friday morning. It may even be true in the short run as information-hungry traders parse every piece of major or minor data these days for a clue about markets' direction. Or it may reflect the simple urge to rationalize stocks' sometimes frustratingly random walk.</br></br>Friday's Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey is the longest-running poll of its kind.</br></br>That history hasn't translated into a great stock-market-timing tool, though, even though plenty of investors have tried to use it that way. But the survey's breadth enhances its usefulness as an economic early-warning system.