Green Shoots?
I actually read the article and can say I honestly don’t know where this guy is getting his numbers. He makes the claim retail sales were up and everything I’ve read is to the effect that retail sales are in the toilet. JC Penney is on life support, Sears is closing something like 250 stores, there’s over 1 Billion of abandoned retail space across the country, and while they tout that employment grew, the unemployment rate is back up!
I’ve studied this economy and I simply don’t get it. The markets up but that’s only because money rolled out of bonds in fear of rising interest rates. I don’t see any real underpinning for this market rally in the “main street” economy. McDonalds sales are down; Walmart is being encouraged to shutter low performing stores and Walmart has seen quarter over quarter lower sales figures for something like 18 months.
With the continued death of brick and mortar retail outlets and the prospect of mall closings across the land, I don’t see employment getting better any time soon. In fact, with the combination of a skills mismatch in the work place for displaced workers and the huge growth in the “sitz” class, i.e., those living on government handouts in free HUD apartments, we may well have past the point of peak employment in terms of the percentage of people participating in the work place.
Then of course, there’s the problem with auto sales. We’ve seen actual miles driven decline since 2007 and the 20 somethings could care less about buying autos or, forming the family units necessary for growth in housing or durable goods.
So...........what is doing well in this economy? I call it the “entertainment” and finance economy. This population will spend its last dollar on smart phone connectivity, Xbox type games, and fancy tennis shoes..........and that’s about all they can afford. The other sector that does well of course is banking/finance and insurance. The aircraft manufacturer, Boeing seems to do well, but earth moving equipment isn’t a barn burner because of sluggish demand for raw materials.
Then of course.........there’s the overhang problem of the prospect of a Hillary Clinton election. Politico reported today she trounces any GOP candidate in an Iowa poll.
My guess is that this market has 2, maybe 3 years of life left in it (and that’s optimistic) and then, shortly after Clinton is elected, everything goes to crap. My guess is that with Clinton elected, capital will start fleeing the US in a big way.
I consider Business Insider just another wing of the White House propaganda machine. Very left wing.
Green Shoots?