MIDDAY UPDATE: Consumer Confidence and Case Shiller

This morning we had two important indexes released: Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index and the Case Shiller index of home values. Despite exceptions, the Consumer Confidence Index was down for the month of December, defying a good holiday retail season and reports from Mastercard. The Case Shiller index was down too, across all 20 cities it covers.

And December reaches a close, charities and non-profits are relying on a boost to down-contributions for 2010. The two highest days of donations are historically the last two days of the year. But how has social media changed giving in 2010?

And finally, Coach Nick Saban of the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team makes $5 million a year — a salary which is hard to justify from a public university. But if coaches and football teams bring revenue to universities, are the benefits of a football team and expensive coaching staff worth the cost?