And yet they are BEEMING about it!
"A dismal report on retail spending and signs of slowing global growth pushed stocks lower and sent the yields on government bonds plunging as investors sought safety. The Commerce Department said consumers spent less in December even as gas prices fell and hiring rose — surprisingly. Markets were also weighed down after the World Bank lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3% from 3.4%. It blamed the sluggish economies of Europe and Japan and the slowdown in China. On that news, nervous investors dumped some key commodities."
I'm sorry, did they say "Dismal report on US retail spending?"
"Retail holiday sales climb 4 percent" by Taryn Luna, Globe Correspondent January 14, 2015
Despite a weak December, the 2014 holiday season marked the biggest retail sales increase in three years, as shoppers took advantage of early discounts, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation.
Are you sick of the mixed me$$age $hit shovel yet?
So the run-up promotions to Black Friday, as well as the Chri$tmas shopping season articles, were all lies huh?
*****************
Analysts and economists called the holiday season a success but said retailers contributed to a sales slide in December by rolling out Black Friday-like deals as early as Nov. 1. That prompted shoppers to hit the stores earlier than usual and pull back later in the season.
I'm tired of counting each individual plop of a paragraph, sorry.
The Commerce Department reported that December retail spending fell.
But it was a great $ea$on!
“It was an upfront business,” said Marshal Cohen, a retail analyst with NPD Group in New York. “Shoppers didn’t have more money to spend on the holiday just because the stores offered more sales.”
Related(?): "The typical US household saw its net worth actually decline 1.2 percent from 2010 to 2013."
Many retailers also offered steep discounts again in December to lure shoppers but had to sell at higher volumes to boost sales. Cohen said there was a lull throughout most of the month before last-minute shoppers took advantage of deals in the days leading up the holidays.
The endle$$ $hit $hovel, $igh.
The December sales dive caught many in the retail industry by surprise, said economist Chris Christopher of IHS Global Insight in Lexington. “A lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck,” Christopher said. “It’s not like many people are opening up the champagne bottles and saying the good times are here again.”
SOME ARE!
Incomes for the highest-earning 1 percent of Americans soared 31 percent from 2009 through 2012.... And after
30 years of skyrocketing income inequality, the top 1 percent now
control a bigger share of wealth than they have since FDR, [and] not
only are the rich getting richer — they’re getting taxed less, too."
Pop the champagne corks!
Retailer L.L. Bean, based in Freeport, Maine, experienced strong sales in November, when freezing temperatures prompted consumers in many parts of the country to snatch up cold-weather apparel and footwear, spokeswoman Carolyn Beem said.
Not as Christmas gifts for others, but for themselves so they wouldn't freeze to death.
And remember how the record-setting cold was blamed for last year's first-quarter retraction -- in this age of fart-mi$ting global warming?!
At one point, about 100,000 pairs of the popular Bean boots were on back order. But sales were not as robust in December, and L.L. Bean did not offer early promotions like many other retailers, Beem said.
She said the company expects sales to be similar to the retail federation’s 4 percent growth figures but declined to provide official numbers until the company’s quarter ends in February.
PFFFFT!
The information is available at the move of a mouse and few keystrokes. That's an excuse so she won't outed as a LIAR later when the announcement of a crappy $ea$on is quietly announced! Whatta hack!
“It was a good season,” Beem said. “Holiday seasons are always interesting, and this one was no exception.”
Cohen said he believes that consumers will remain cautious and calculating through 2015.
Shoppers have the upper hand because they have unlimited options — and retailers must continue offering attractive enough deals to compete against Internet sellers and other companies, he added.
You can give us trillions and trillions of options; doesn't do any good when we have no money.
I wonder how much he is being paid to shovel $hit.
--more--"
Yes, there are "anecdotal evidence about the state of the economy and concerns about low oil prices, however, Fed officials expect cheaper energy to boost household spending and be positive for the US economy overall."
Didn't help during the Xmas shopping season, and go tell it to Alaska.
Related: The Crashing Price Of Oil Is Going To Rip The Global Economy To Shreds
Or you can li$ten to the $elf-$erving Fed in$tead.
"Video game retailer GameStop Corp. surged after the company reaffirmed its fourth-quarter earnings forecast as sales of new titles over the holidays helped offset waning demand for consoles. Sales of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One suffered, compared to 2013’s holiday period, but increased sales of new games, led by “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” and “Grand Theft Auto V,” helped close the gap."
That's the last word on Bo$ton Globe business.
