University of MI Consumer Sentiment Survey...they survey how many???

At 7:30 am CDT, the May retail sales report was released and the results were a big ouch and the equity market futures reflected the huge miss as the S and P 500 futures closed down 8.20 indicating the stock market was setting up for a rough day for the bulls.

At 8:55 am CDT, the University of MI Consumer Sentiment Survey report was released and the results beat expectations and the "missed by a mile" retail sales figures were completely dismissed. At 12:30 pm CDT, the S and P futures are trading +1.00 or a 9 point swing from the 8:15 am overnight trading close.

Grandpa surmised the University of MI survey must be an indisputably momentous report to move the equity market and dust off the entire country's retail sales figures. This has to be an all encompassing survey of at least 100,000 people and 100's of questions.

Well, NOT EXACTLY! The equity trading robots took advantage of yet another no volume day to push the market up intraday based on a 500 PERSON SURVEY!

Yes, the Cheetos munching, Red Bull drinking equity gamers are simply doing what they do best....manipulate the market knowing full well Mary Schapiro and the SEC do not care about manipulation as long as the market goes up.

The Index of Consumer Expectations focuses on three areas: how consumers view prospects for their own financial situation, how they view prospects for the general economy over the near term, and their view of prospects for the economy over the long term. The Expectations Index represents only a small part of the entire survey data that is collected on a regular basis.

Each monthly survey contains approximately 50 core questions, each of which tracks a different aspect of consumer attitudes and expectations. The samples for the Surveys of Consumers are statistically designed to be representative of all American households, excluding those in Alaska and Hawaii. Each month, a minimum of 500 interviews are conducted by telephone from the Ann Arbor facility.

The core questions cover three broad areas of consumer sentiment: personal finances, business conditions, and buying conditions.

WOW! A survey of not less than 500 people and 50 questions and the robots use this a market moving event. Of course CNBC remained pretty giddy about the survey results however they do have a strange sense of reality...we will see if the Cheetos run out by the close.

Link to overview of survey

Link to actual questionnaire

Link to website