Consumer confidence nose-dived from early October to...

Consumer confidence nose-dived from early October to early November, but Americans don’t plan to cut back on their Christmas buying, the Conference Board reported. The research group’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to 96.3 from 117, with the Oct. 19 stock market crash largely blamed for the drop. The index, compiled from a survey of 5,000 households, uses a 1985 level of 100 as its base. The survey found that households planned to spend an average of $380 on gifts, and 25% planned to spend more than $500, accounting for half of all Christmas spending.