funny last year shopper tracs early hype was also wrong U.S. Consumers Spent 3.5% Less on Holiday Shopping (Update1) By Cotten Timberlake and Tiffany Kary Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers spent 3.5 percent less during the post-Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend than a year earlier as retailers slashed prices to lure customers grappling with higher food and energy costs. Shoppers spent an average of $347.44 on purchases from Nov. 22 through today, choosing to buy less-expensive digital- photo frames and cashmere sweaters, the National Retail Federation said today in a statement. Store visits increased 4.8 percent. Customers have cut back on spending in the face of increased costs for milk and gasoline and the worst housing slump in 16 years. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. responded by offering holiday discounts more than two weeks earlier than last year while Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. reduced clothing prices by as much as 60 percent. ``The sense we have this year is that shoppers are very mission-focused,'' said Fred Crawford, managing director for consulting and advisory firm AlixPartners LLP. ``They know who is carrying what, and at what price point.'' More than 147 million consumers visited stores over the weekend, the NRF said, based on a poll it commissioned from BIGresearch. The average spending amount last year was helped by increased sales of high-definition televisions, NRF spokesman Scott Krugman said. ``It's the saturation of HD-TVs into the market, and also retailers recognizing that consumers will be more conservative this year and focusing on lower-priced merchandise,'' he said. November, December Sales in November and December represent 20 percent of retailers' annual revenue, according to the NRF. The fourth quarter accounts for almost a third of retailers' annual profit, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Sales on Nov. 23, called Black Friday because it was the day that retailers traditionally turn a profit for the year, rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, Chicago- based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said yesterday. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, rose 87 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $45.73 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Nov. 23. Shares of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based seller of the most toys in the U.S. have fallen less than 1 percent this year. Macy's gained $1.53, or 5.4 percent, to $30.03 in New York trading and Target Corp. advanced $3.07, or 5.7 percent, to $57.17. The NRF in September predicted a 4 percent gain in total retail sales for November and December, the smallest gain since a 1.3 percent rise in 2002. The group reiterated its projection today. BIGresearch, based in Worthington, Ohio, polled 2,395 consumers on Nov. 22-24. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. To contact the reporters on this story: Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net ; Tiffany Kary in New York at tkary@bloomberg.net . Last Updated: November 25, 2007 16:07 EST
Great... Bloomberg is running two conflicting stories: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPrwprvdNoQw&refer=home http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQYhYF8cFecs&refer=home
It's a template for every year. The decimal dynamically slides on the axis and receives the appropriate time stamp. Kinda like a government report.
Just goes to show you that its not 'fundementals' that matter but rather how those 'fundamentals' are spun in the media and accepted by the consumers of media. We'll know monday whether the bull or bear spin machine wins.
There's been a lot of hub-bub recently regarding foreigners visiting the US to spend their appreciated currency. Does the data take that component of spending into account?