White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday said we should begin to judge the effectiveness of the stimulus package now.

Okay, here are some news items from today…

U.S. consumer confidence took an unexpectedly steep slide in June, figures released on Tuesday showed, suggesting the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the economy.

In New York, the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York’s monthly measure of business activity showed conditions worsened in June, although the purchasing and supply managers surveyed felt a bit better about the six-month outlook.

Losses in major indexes on Tuesday began to pile up about a half-hour after the bell, when the Conference Board said that its index of consumer confidence for June fell to 49.3 from a revised 54.8 in May, which was originally reported as 54.9. New housing data were also glum.

Market analyst Art Hogan, of Jefferies & Co., said it was particularly worrisome that the confidence index in June again fell below the 50 mark. Readings above 50 signal expanding optimism among U.S. consumers, whose purchases constitute more than two-thirds of gross domestic product.

California is preparing to issue IOUs to its creditors this week as it grapples with an unprecedented cash crunch and prepares to begin its new fiscal year deep in the red.

Once the US’s richest state, California now has the dubious distinction of having the worst credit rating in the country.

The number of homeowners at least two months behind or in foreclosure jumped in the first quarter from the previous quarter, a Treasury Department report said Tuesday.

Defaults from borrowers with good credit contributed to much of the increase in seriously delinquent loans, echoing data last month from the Mortgage Bankers Association. As the recession claims more jobs, borrowers in good standing are more likely to miss their mortgage payments.

Efforts to modify home loans have been slow and easily outpaced by the number of new delinquencies. In the first quarter, loan companies modified 185,156 mortgages, up 55 percent from the previous quarter. But the number of foreclosures in process increased to 844,389, up 22 percent.