SubscribeAll Posts Tagged With: "consumer spending"
Former Hedge Fund Manager Reveals Plan to Repair Banking System
The economic house of the United States is ready to collapse upon itself, leaving us exposed and defenseless against the next Great Depression. Bureaucratic handymen with a staple gun and a trillion-dollar roll can’t paper over holes in bank balance sheets or fill in the others created by plunging consumer spending.
It won’t work.
What is needed – and what would arrest the slide in U.S. housing prices – is a renewed general confidence in protective regulations, and tax incentives for investors to buy troubled assets and to make equity investments in banks.
Understanding just what brought the economies of the United States, as…
25Feb2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedIs the Consumer Confident?
There are literally hundreds of economic reports issued every week relating to everything from new and used home sales to consumer and producer prices, employment numbers and trade surpluses, GDP, PMI, ADP – the list goes on.  But what’s relevant?
Amid the numerical swamp are several items worth watching, particularly now as we pull ourselves out of a calamitous six months and begin to look forward to better days. And they all relate to confidence.
As one, old-time market commentator reported in his blog last week:
“There’s a tremendous horde of cash sitting on the sidelines, waiting, waiting… What it will take to…
14Jan2009 | Oxbury Research | 0 comments | ContinuedSilver and Gold
More Than Just A Christmas Carol
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Ev’ryone wishes for silver and gold
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth
… or so goes the well-known Christmas carol you’ve probably heard several times already during this holiday season. But aside from the decorations in your home and office, how much gold do you actually own right now in your portfolio?
After all, gold is considerably more valuable than merely "the pleasure it gives here on earth", as you can see from the following 5 x 3 point and figure chart which shows the price…
24Dec2008 | Oxbury Research | 0 comments | ContinuedStocks fall sharply on consumer spending worries
By SARA LEPRO
AP Business Writer
(AP:NEW YORK) Investors uneasy about the holiday shopping season gave Monday back some of Wall Street’s recent gains, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 360 points.
While initial reports about the start of holiday shopping this weekend suggested sales were better than some retailers and analysts expected, Americans are clearly extremely cautious. That has Wall Street concerned about the impact of a continuing drop in consumer spending on the economy.
According to preliminary figures released by RCT ShopperTrak, a research firm that tracks total retail sales at more than 50,000 outlets, sales rose 3 percent…
1Dec2008 | INO | 0 comments | Continued4 new reports reveal battered economy
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
(AP:WASHINGTON) The government released a quartet of reports Wednesday that paint a bleak picture of the nation’s economy: Jobless claims remain at recessionary levels, Americans cut back on their spending by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks, orders to U.S. factories plummeted and homes sales fell to the lowest level in nearly 18 years.
The Labor Department reported that initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 543,000. But claims remain at recessionary levels. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, rose to 518,000, its…
26Nov2008 | INO | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Markets Dive on Deepening Recession Fears
Weak U.S. retail sales sent domestic markets plunging yesterday (Wednesday), as worries about a deepening recession intensified.
All three major U.S. indices ended the day with heavy losses. At the New York close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average Index had posted a steep decline of 733.08 points (-7.87%), to close at 8,577.91. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 150.68 points (-8.47%), to reach 1,628.33. And the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 90.17 points (-9.03%), to settle at 907.84.
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16Oct2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedSlowdown in Consumer Spending Could Lead to Recession by Year-End
Consumer spending, responsible for the bulk of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), slowed in July as the effects of the government’s stimulus package tapered off.
The Commerce Department announced that consumer spending grew at a 0.2% rate in July. But on an inflation-adjusted basis, consumer spending dropped 0.4%, as high prices took their toll on the household budgets of strapped consumers.
“The temporary impact of the stimulus has passed, and it looks like consumer spending is on track to decline in real terms in the third quarter,” John Ryding, the chief economist at RDQ Economics, told The New York Times. “It’s…
1Sep2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedDiamonds in the Rough: Two Luxury Brands Ready to Shine
Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (TIF) yesterday (Thursday) followed in the footsteps of other high-end brands when it announced strong fiscal second quarter results.
Tiffany’s net income increased to $80.8 million, or 63 cents per share, in the second quarter, up from $40.5 million, or 29 cents, for the same period a year prior. It was enough to beat mean analyst expectations of 55 cents per share and sent Tiffany shares up 10%.
“Tiffany did a lot better than investors feared,†Schick, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. (SF), told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview. “Luxury isn’t getting a ton…
29Aug2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedInvest in Eggs During a Recession
Turning Eggs into Dollars
Somebody asked this question on TickerHound a few months ago (just as the market began to take a dive):
What are some good sectors to invest in during an economic downturn?
It’s a question I’ve thought a lot about, and have written extensively on, for the last few months.
For me, it all comes down to consumer spending patterns. Where are people going to cut back? Where will they continue to spend?
As this economy continues to slide and the more I begin to realize we’re far from being out of the woods, I find myself starting to cut back on…
24Jul2008 | The Penny Sleuth | Comments Off | ContinuedConsumer Spending Threatened by High Prices and Lower Wages
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than 70% of the economy, will be seriously threatened in the months ahead, as prices continue to rise, wages plateau, and government stimulus checks wear thin.
Consumer spending has remained strong in recent months, even jumping 0.8% in the month of May. But that boost was largely inflated by the $50 billion in government rebate checks that were cashed and put to use in the month.
The stimulus will total $107 billion this fiscal year, but that may not be enough, as consumer prices are rising across the board. The consumer price index (CPI)…
22Jul2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | Continued
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