Here's more proof: "During the past three decades, there has never been a period where the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence has fallen as much as it has during the past few months, which was not followed by a recession," say the number-crunchers at Economy.com. The economy is on a downward trajectory and a recession seems unavoidable.

The stock market, of course, might not realize this for days. But when reality hits, it will slam into stocks harder than a Mac truck.

Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments, summed up the situation perfectly. He told Reuters that the market may rally on expectations of more interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, in the wake of such data, but added: "Once reality sets in, we have to realize that perhaps total recession is upon us, instead of pockets of recession."