StockTwits
07-13-2010, 12:30 PM
Retail sales are up, and credit card debt is down. Why is that bad news? - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine (http://abnormalreturns.com/links/166308/visit) (www.slate.com)
by grossdm about 3 hours ago
Last week, pessimists seized on two pieces of bad news about the consumer sector of the economy. On July 8, the Federal Reserve reported that consumer credit, having shrunk 4.4 percent in 2009, fell at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in May. Revolving debt (i.e., credit cards and the like), which shrunk 9.6 percent in 2009, plummeted at a 10.5 percent annual rate in May. The same day, word came that June retail sales were disappointing. A 28-retailer index tracked by Thomson Reuters "shows sales at stores open a year rose only 3.1% in June," the Wall Street Journal reported. "While that compares with a 4.9% drop last year, it wasn't as solid as hoped."
read more... (http://abnormalreturns.com/links/index?date=07/13/2010#166308)
by grossdm about 3 hours ago
Last week, pessimists seized on two pieces of bad news about the consumer sector of the economy. On July 8, the Federal Reserve reported that consumer credit, having shrunk 4.4 percent in 2009, fell at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in May. Revolving debt (i.e., credit cards and the like), which shrunk 9.6 percent in 2009, plummeted at a 10.5 percent annual rate in May. The same day, word came that June retail sales were disappointing. A 28-retailer index tracked by Thomson Reuters "shows sales at stores open a year rose only 3.1% in June," the Wall Street Journal reported. "While that compares with a 4.9% drop last year, it wasn't as solid as hoped."
read more... (http://abnormalreturns.com/links/index?date=07/13/2010#166308)