CNN —Lower gas prices helped consumer confidence bounce back in August, breaking a three-month stretch of worsening sentiment. “Expectations are more sensitive to movements in gas prices,” Shepherdson said in a research note, adding that the continued slide in gas prices could be a tailwind for the survey results. However, while the consumer confidence number is promising, “this is one month,” she cautioned. Consumer confidence is a pretty fickle reading.”The big risk is that what the gas pump giveth, the gas pump taketh away, as Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNN Business in an opinion column published Tuesday. “It is a real drain on disposable income [and] it ends up acting as a depressant on consumer confidence,” Stovall said.

---