January 2010 marked a turning point in the financial world, according to the RBC CASH Index. After declining throughout much of 2009, American consumer confidence improved sharply at the start of 2010, returning to levels not seen since the financial crisis began in September 2008. 

Overall, consumer confidence advanced 19.3 points, bringing the RBC CASH Index to 58.3 in January, versus 39.0 in December 2009.

“This month’s RBC Index has risen to levels not seen since the financial crisis hit with full force,” said Tim Porcelli, an economist for RBC Capital Markets (New York). “The latest increase seems to be based on the recent string of positive economic news. This bodes well for continued improvement in consumer confidence, which will be crucial to economic recovery.”

That news followed reports of a new online shopping record. E-retail sales totaled $913 million on Dec. 15, 2009—the first day they topped the $900 million mark, according to ComScore (Reston, Va.), which measures digital data.

BigResearch (Worthington, Ohio), on the other hand, said the state of the consumer is stagnant. According to a Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, those confident in chances for a strong economy have remained around 30 percent since May (other than a dip to 27.2 percent recorded in July). However, that’s an improvement since January 2009, when only 24.7 percent expressed confidence about the economy. Consumer sentiment continues to trend below readings from January 2008 (33.5 percent) and 2007 (50.5 percent).

According to BigResearch, two in five survey respondents (40.8 percent) said the economy will rebound to pre-crisis status, while 30.3 percent didn’t think so and 29 percent weren’t sure. By comparison, in March 2009, 49.7 percent were positive about a full recovery, 21.9 percent didn’t hold out hope for a recovery and 28.4 percent were undecided. [March 2010 PET AGE]