Posted on 11/14/2012 6:24:34 AM PST by Perdogg
Here we go with the "but, but, Sandy" excuses. The just announced October retail sales tumbled, with their worst miss of expectations since May 2010, and the first sequential decline since June: printing at -0.3% for both the headline and the 'ex autos and gas', on expectations of a -0.2% and +0.4% rise. Ignoring for a second that the Commerce Department said that Hurricane Sandy had both positive (remember those massive lines in various stores ahead of Sandy) and negative impacts on retail sales, it would be truly inconceivable for the sellside Wall Street consensus of diploma'ed PhDs, which knew about Sandy's impact on retail sales well in advance, and thus could adjust its numbers, to actually, you know, adjust its numbers. Either way there is no way to spin the longer term major store sales trend (last chart), which shows that the US consumer, out of money, out of credit, and out of savings is entering the holiday season with little to zero disposable spending power.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
Four more years of “Unexpected”.
The recovery is just “astounding”. lolz
Anecdotal evidence is just that but I recently entered an upscale mall with every intention of buying 5-6 fall/winter outfits including shoes.
The styling, details and most of all the quality on offer was appalling. Perhaps it’s possible to get Chinese-made goods that don’t resemble dodgy street market knockoffs but I never saw any on the day.
I walked out empty-handed.
Good luck with that urban hip thing.
Just wait until the November sales miss is announced.
Our family will not spend money on gifts this Christmas. We will get together, and that will be our gift to each other. There is no need for shopping and shipping to have a joyful celebration of our Savior’s birth.
Even Hugo Boss is made in China and yet they want $100 per shirt. **sigh**
Most will have horns pulled in because the Loose Cannon has a new lease on life.
I hear JC Penney is having a fire sale :).
Yes. The big word the past two years was “Shock”. Everything that went wrong was just shocking because it didn’t play well with the illusion we were in a glorious recovery.
Everyone’s pinching pennies, manufacturers too.
Our family intends on pooling our funds and purchasing a few big ticket items for each household. My wife and I are getting a new fridge, my mother is getting a new dishwasher, and my mother-in-law gets a flat-screen TV. Christmas morning will be spent in the kitchen enjoying home-cooked meals and on the porch sipping coffee and enjoy each other’s company.
In years past, we’ve been very generous, but with the looming tax hikes and several life-altering events recently, we’re saving our money and investing in our home and well-being. Material goods won’t be saved if a fire consumes a home.
By mid-December the White House economic team is going to have to have fresh underwear sent in to them on an hourly basis.
“.....Our family will not spend money on gifts this Christmas. We will get together, and that will be our gift to each other......”
*****************************************************************
And that is, by far, the best gift any of us could hope to give or receive—regardless of any economic circumstances.
"There's a sale at Penney's!"
AMEN
One thing this past “election” showed is that maybe the only thing we can truly control anymore, is our own wallets and what is left in them after paying Screwtape his cut
And for the first time in many years this family will not be buying toys and clothes for the kiddie “wish lists” provided to us by Holder’s peeps. Not after seeing obama signs in the yards of the illegals, section 8s and habitats for humanity houses. Sow, Reap.
I think animal rescue and personal one-on-one giving to the working worthy will be my charity from here on
Same here .... if we do any ‘presents’ at all, they will be homemade. Both sets of grandparents are elderly ... two are fragile and day-to-day & one has cancer. Time spent with them, especially as a family, is more precious than anything else right now.
Same with Calvin Klein, Jones NY and all the other overpriced designer crap. No more for me!
Like this?
Maybe a Fire Island Sale?
The last time I walked through a JC Penney's, most of the clothing that I saw looked like it belonged in a fire. I asked my wife who was buying this stuff. She didn't know either.
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