Consumer woes hit Wall Street

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/25/markets/stockswatch_ny/index.htm?postversion=2007092508 ^ | 9-25-07

[Hydroshock]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday as signs that consumers may be cutting back fanned recession worries.

Two major retailers warned late Monday about a slowdown in sales. Target cut its forecast for September same-store sales growth, saying that weak traffic will hurt sales, particularly in Florida and the Northeast, two areas that have been hit by the slowdown in housing.

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Jeremy Batstone of Charles Stanley on why the dollar keeps on falling. Play video

Meanwhile Lowe's, the No. 2 home improvement retailer, said that "uncertainties" in the market made it prudent to trim its sales and earnings outlook.

Shares of Target (Charts, Fortune 500) fell nearly 4 percent in pre-market trading Tuesday, while Lowe's (Charts, Fortune 500) stock sank about 8 percent.

Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co., said the warnings from the two retailers shook up investors, who have been looking for warning signs that problems in housing and mortgage markets would start to cut into consumer spending.

"At the end of the day, the chief concern is

[RockinRight]

I’d rather have $1000 inflated dollars than zero uninflated dollars...

[RockinRight]

That’s true. You can argue for or against it, but facts are facts, we do have a debt-based monetary system. In fact every country worth living in (from an economic standpoint) does as well...FWIW...

[Toddsterpatriot]

Oh, sure, bring logic to a panic thread.

[jennyjenny]

Tihs is just the tip of teh iceberg to. Wer’e doomed.

[Edit35]

THat faith is long gone for many, and it will not becoming back soon.

Yeah right.

That's why the Dow Jones Industrial 30 are breaking new highs, almost daily.

That's why corporate earnings are through the roof.

That's why even Warren Buffett, highly partisan Democrat, had to go bullish as of late.

That's why REAL household income, as calculated by the GAO, once again rose faster than inflation and remains on course for more solid gains in the years to come.

One little blip in the skyrocketing housing market and all the chicken littles come flying out of their hole in the ground.

As I've said before, the GWB economy is built on REAL earnings, REAL P/E strength, REAL corporate growth, not just in the US but throughout the world.

The Clinton economy was built on nothing but dot.com hype, bolstered by fudged numbers released by the SEC which in the 1990s was headed by Clinton butt-boy ... ? ... I forget his name, but he used to be head of Goldman Sachs, and he still remains a highly partisan Democrat to this day.

No wonder he fudged the numbers in Clinton's favor so much during the late 1990s.

No wonder NASDAQ lost 46% ... that's right FOURTY-SIX PERCENT of its value during Clinton's final six months in office.

Yet the lib-sucking media still tries to blame GWB for the economic downturn of 2000-2001.

[Hydroshock]

No, it is built on a devalued dollar, which has lost 40% of it value since 2001. Factor that in to the dow as it is now and it has barely moved.

[chilepepper]

yeah, that would be just brilliant. make the US Dollar even more worthless and convince the Chinese to ditch the dollars they have been accumulating...

[chilepepper]

its not about "making the dollar strong" - its about keeping the dollar as the worlds reserve currency - believe me, its *really* important to the US economy that it remain so...

US dollars being used for a business deal between people who may never, ever set foot in the US keeps US inflation low.

if there is capital flight because the dollar is perceived as worthless, it *will become* worthless as overseas dollars fly home and crowd out the dollars already sloshing around in the US...

that will truly be armaggedon.

the US just narrowly missed Saudi Arabia uncoupling from the US dollar this week. if they had, we could have had a meltdown on the dollar - check the charts - check the LIBOR - check the price of gold - check the Canadian Loonie achieving partity with the US dollar - check the price of OIL - the increase is due not so much inflation or supply problems: its price is much flatter in EUROS. check the Dollar index - it dropped to 78.10 or before it bounced back to 78.50 or so, after the Saudis were *coaxed* and warned about uncoupling...

[VegasCowboy]

LOL! You’ve got my favorite gloom-and-dooming, platitude spewing poster down pat.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP*! !

Bernanke's Panicked Rate Cut Only Helps Wall Street and Banks

Excerpts:

Aside from the dollar and long-term bonds, markets rose last week as the Federal Reserve demonstrated that it is more fearful of a slowing economy and banking woes than inflation. In fact, it is willing to sacrifice the dollar to save the banks. * * *

The Fed is obviously terrified. Chairman Ben Bernanke built his career on a doctoral thesis that claimed that the Fed didn't cut rates fast enough during the 1929 stock market crash. But if you look at a chart of the Depression bear market with an overlay chart of interest rates, you'll see that the Fed cut interest rates as the market topped. And when you look at the charts for a few years later, when the market finally bottomed, you'll see that the Fed had been lowering rates all the way down. * * *

LOL, LOL ! Helicopter Ben Bombs Wall Street with Greenbacks . . .

[Pelham]

You tell’em, toddster- no need for those nasty recessions. The New Paradigm rules! No more business cycle! Prosperity will increase forever.

[Pelham]

The value of the dollar and rhetoric about inflation are straw men used for dimocrapic propaganda.

Missed the '70s, did you? Too young to remember stagflation?

[Toddsterpatriot]

You tell’em, toddster- no need for those nasty recessions.

Recessions are great. I think we need to have more. Raise rates now!!

[M. Espinola]

Great graphic! :)