It's not a disaster but there were plenty of signs Tuesday that the economy was cooling and would stay in the slow lane next year, reports the Associated Press. Consumer confidence also dropped last month.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 in November down from 105.1 in October. The number was also well below the 106 that analysts had expected. Durable goods orders were also expected to be down because they had been artificially pumped up by a big Boeing jet order last month. The number came in lower, though, than anyone had expected.

Worst of all for consumer confidence, the National Association of Realtors said the median price of an existing home in the U.S. dropped to $221,000 in October, a decline of 3.5 percent from a year ago. Despite the bad news, the first weekend of holiday shopping seemed to be running pretty well, according to most reports.

Blurring the picture of a slowing economy was Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who told a New York lunch that the economy would pick up in 2007. His main point, though, was that the Fed was still nervous about inflation, reports the New York Times. The central bank is looking at rising wages, which it thinks, could be passed on in higher prices. That runs counter to widely-held expectations that the Fed will lower rates sometime next year to kick the economy along. As usual, Bernanke's speech was "on the one hand … but on the other…" which is no help in reading the tea leaves for next year.

One analyst points out that housing and autos are the only problem areas and that the rest of the economy is strong. Well, yes, but housing and autos are one humungous chunk of the economy and may be the most important for consumer psychology.