Rockville's ChangeWave Research releases a pessimistic study. Of 4,604 consumers surveyed in early January, 34 percent said they would spend less in the next 90 days than they did a year ago. Thanks to Dave Zeiler for the tip. In November, ChangeWave asked the same question, and only 25 percent said they would spend less in the following 90 days.

"While this is ChangeWave's fourth consecutive survey since June showing a consumer pullback, this is first time consumer spending growth has actually gone into the red," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing, who added, "Frankly, the news doesn't look good on the spending front."

 The survey asked the 34% of respondents who say they'll be spending less to say why they planned to spend less. Better than one-in-three (36%) pointed to Inflation - which is 6-points more than the previous ChangeWave survey in November. Another 33% blamed Higher Energy Costs, 4 points higher than previously.

In a strong sign that consumers are worrying more about their nest eggs, 57% of those spending less say they're trying to improve their personal finances by reducing debt (32%) and saving more money (25%). These totals are also up 4 points since November. Nearly every consumer category looked at in the survey scored lower than a year ago in terms of spending going forward. This decline was led by restaurant spending, which has deteriorated 12 points compared to year-ago levels.