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consumer · sector mood
1998
year mood +0.24 · -0.47 to +0.40 across 12 mo
Monthly mood
bearish −1 +1 bullish
-0.5 -0.25 0 +0.25 +0.5 Jan Feb Mar +0.40 Apr May Jun -0.47 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
month values ▾
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
+0.35+0.35+0.40+0.40+0.00-0.47+0.40+0.25+0.05+0.35+0.40+0.40

Consumer sector sentiment is neutral to slightly positive this month, primarily shaped by the UAW strike disrupting nearly all of General Motors' North American output. While the strike introduces near-term uncertainty in auto availability and pricing, broader consumer demand has held firm, supporting underlying resilience in the sector. The modest bullish tilt reflects confidence that supply-side pressures will ease without triggering widespread consumer pullback.

How this mood is scored ▾
Each day the model reads that day's news for the sector and asks, as someone who owns assets or makes their living in it: how am I feeling this month, and why? The month's mood is that running answer, tied to the specific events driving it (the story shown above). It leans on trusted, higher-impact reporting, and on the prior month when a month is quiet, so one loud headline can't swing it. The read updates daily through the month; once a month ends, its mood is locked. This year is read live from the news the pipeline actually collected (hover a bar for its story count). · last computed Jul 11, 2026
Top consumer stories of 1998
May
Daimler-Benz and Chrysler announce $36 billion 'merger of equals' history.com →

On May 7, 1998, Germany's Daimler-Benz and America's Chrysler unveiled a roughly $36 billion all-stock merger to form DaimlerChrysler, then the largest cross-border industrial combination and the biggest foreign acquisition of a U.S. company on record. Daimler shareholders took about 57% of the combined automaker, which spanned factories in 34 countries and roughly 4.4 million annual vehicle sales. The 'merger of equals' framing later unraveled, and Chrysler was sold off in 2007.

Jun
UAW strike shuts down nearly all of General Motors' North American output web.archive.org →

A United Auto Workers strike at two key parts plants in Flint, Michigan spread to idle nearly every GM assembly plant in North America, lasting almost two months. The stoppage cost GM billions in lost production and measurably dented US GDP growth in the second quarter. It highlighted persistent labor tension in the auto industry even amid the broader economic boom.

Sep
eBay goes public; online-auction shares more than triple on debut web.archive.org →

eBay priced its IPO at $18 a share and began trading on September 24, 1998, with the stock surging past $47 on its first day to value the online-auction marketplace above $1 billion. Unusually for a dot-com, eBay was already profitable, having hosted more than 15 million auctions and topped $340 million in gross merchandise sales through mid-1998. The debut showcased consumer-to-consumer e-commerce as a viable, high-growth business.