What are your thoughts? Here are mine. Retail sales report doesn't account for inflation. Plus, there were the stimulus checks. I'm not so sure the report is really as positive as the market is making it out to be. Also wonder if the stimulus checks were all part of the grand plan, since interest rates are going to start getting hiked and they probably need to be given the weak dollar, and Bernanke's indicated he'll do it. Higher retail sales can also be used as an indication of inflation if that's how they want to interpret it.
There you have it. Gasoline station sales were up 13.8 percent (±2.1%) from May 2007 and sales of nonstore retailers were up 10.0 percent (±2.1%) from last year. So, Americans are paying more for food and gasoline. A lot more. They're not necessarily buying more - just paying more, in nominal and absolute terms - for what they are buying. And the market rallies as if the consumer just found that lost 50k or 100k of home equity. Welcome to the ultimate world of spin. Oh, and P.S., Lehman is strong and healthy now that they've ousted their CEO, and the financials' problems are over because some brokerage firms said so.