Much of the February gain in consumer spending was because of an increase in prices, leaving so-called real purchases with a decline for the month. Incomes fell 0.2 percent, after a 0.2 percent increase in January. The survey median projected a 0.1 percent decrease. The Reuters/University of Michigan index continues to hover near the 28-year low of 55.3 reached in November. The median forecast was 56.8. The index of consumer expectations six months from now, which more closely predicts the direction of spending, rose to 53.5 from 50.5 in February. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOg_5hUJugOQ&refer=home
Incomes fell yet there was some gain (whether real or nominal) ..............WTF gained anything if incomes fell???
It's difficult find much meaning in the data. Peoples buying habits are rapidly changing too. If a former SBUX drinker now buys is daily joe at the Shell station he's cut spending but his actual consumption is steady. There's a lot of micro stories behind the story. Just the same, in my view deflation is the bigger pressure right now vis a vis joblessness and sluggish wage figures than is inflation. There's already been a lot of inflation-it's arc is slowing.
Geez, BuyLo, is there a cut and paste contest on or something? And all negative or meaningless stuff like that article... smart people know that the world trade is recovering, US trade is recovering, jobs stats are the most trailing indicator in the world and that you should be on ignore probably... in fact...
Amen to that! Bylo expecting the sky to fall after every negative news article he reads and feels compelled to paste here looking for affirmation:
Hey I kind of like it. Although, I can almost always guess which posts are authored by BLSH, based only on the title, at least I don't have to hunt through the websites looking for negative articles on my own. They're right here and easy to find.
I'm going to organize all you Ostriches a night with Kudlow, where you can all sit around, he can wine and dine you and entice you with tales of mustard seeds, and then you can all head back to his place, for a night of bullish, pollyanal sex. Or, you can actually pay attention to the real news, which is decisively bearish, keep your ammo dry while prices fall to yet lower levels, understand that employment is the be all and end all of the economic future, and until that improves - forget all the bullshit about it being a lagging indicator when whole sectors of the economy are getting wiped out and job losses mount at once in a generation rates - you can't possibly construct a bullish case on the economy or equity markets. Be a realist. Don't be an optimist or a pessimist. The economy can't grow, let alone avoid shrinking markedly, as job losses absolutely rack up at breakneck speed. HELOCs? Not anymore. Credit cards? Nope, sorry. This is the time where people can't borrow or leverage their way out of the real income gap and debt load issues they are facing. It's so easy to see clearly when you realize the ultimate significance of JOBS. You can ignore all the static and background noise.