[Grampa Dave]

Typical Bloomberg or the Ny Slimes of the financial news. Read this paragraph carefully. The number one reason for drop in sales is the good news about the drop in gasoline prices which resulted in less $ sales. That means as consumers with cars/trucks/suvs we have more money in our pocket that wasn't spent on gasoline.

Sales declined 0.1 percent last month to $309.5 billion, following a revised 2.3 percent increase in March, the Commerce Department said. Excluding automobiles, sales fell 0.9 percent, the biggest drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, largely because of a decrease in the price of gasoline.

This is why I have removed Bloomblog from my list of favorites on my Dish Satellite System. They and CBS can't present economic news factually.

[Jorge]

Sales at clothing and accessory stores slumped 3.2 percent, the biggest decrease since September 2001, after a 3 percent increase.

Clothing sales are seasonal and fluctuations are expected. Anyone who's been in clothing manufacturing knows lay-offs and rehiring are common as business rises and falls during the year.

[waterstraat]

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., JUNE 9, 1892 We reaffirm the American doctrine of protection. We maintain that the prosperous condition of our country is largely due to the wise revenue legislation of the Republican Congress. We believe that all articles which cannot be produced in the United States, except for luxuries, should be admitted free of duty, and that upon all imports coming into the United States coming into competition with the products of American labor there should be levied duties equal to the difference between wages abroad and at home.