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Last Friday, as much of America was settling in for the coldest weekend of the year, the University of Michigan released its preliminary January reading on consumer sentiment.\xa0 The numbers were a pleasant surprise \u2013 the consumer sentiment index jumped 9.1 points to a reading of 78.8 \u2013 the best number seen since July 2021.\xa0 This confirmed other signs of a thaw in the public mood.\xa0 The Conference Board\u2019s consumer confidence index rose 9.1 points in December to its second highest reading in two years while even the perennially negative Gallup survey on \u201csatisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S.\u201d, showed some improvement in December.