Retail Sales Surprise on the Upside
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) — Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly halted a record six-month slide in January, reflecting higher gasoline prices and more spending on items such as clothing and food. The 1 percent increase followed a revised 3 percent drop the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles gained 0.9…
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) — Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly halted a record six-month slide in January, reflecting higher gasoline prices and more spending on items such as clothing and food. The 1 percent increase followed a revised 3 percent drop the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles gained 0.9 percent. Consumer spending, about 70 percent of the economy, is likely to resume shrinking as the year progresses, according to a separate monthly Bloomberg News survey, capping the longest slide on record. Lawmakers are aiming to shore up the economy with a $789 billion stimulus package that’s designed to create 3.5 million new jobs.
And, there have been NO hedge funds that asked for TARP money. On that list of the Top 25 People Responsible….the only hedge fund guy was Madoff.
Joe – how do you figure most people will get a whopping discount on their mortgage? do you mean re-fi’s or new mortgages?
I do agree there has been MAJOR spin going on in the media which of course is whipping everyone into a frenzy
but it’s hard to tell someone in middle America or right here in NYC who makes $30K a year that a 500K bonus just isn’t enough to live off of. Or that the company felt it was a prudent decision to upgrade the company’s jet instead of giving more loans to credit-worthy customers….
JTB: Though I am “joking” with my press secretary role, I will say this:
“I will admit that I can sympathize with your anger. We are all angry with what is going on and feel powerless to change things for the better.”
Though I try to be a proactive member of society, I recognize that my super powers have limits and, despite my best efforts, I cannot right every wrong. It is not an easy feeling for me and it doesn’t stop me from being proactive, but it can be a hard pill to swallow some days.
sorry chiff I didn’t get that you were the editor. funny. so my last thing was to the what I guess.
hey chiff. thanks for the color on your obsession. The TARP program is one of the things that have kind of mis-fired in the press: the treasury is not giving banks money. it’s buying newly issued shares, which means existing shareholders are getting diluted (hosed, because they now own a smaller fraction of the company). in some cases the govt is lending, like to AIG, which was a solvent company with a liquidity crisis. they’ll get that back along with some fat interest. The shares the govt is buying are a darn good deal, when you consider that the govt will be able to control the banks’ growth and solvency. the govt could very well sell the shares at a profit.
On the other hand, the govt IS giving money to people. the tax cuts are not a loan, they’re a gift.
I know everyone’s mad at the banks, but let’s be fair. the banks didn’t make money, they lost money, tons of it. all of the execs were shareholders and have lost more in their shares than they were paid in bonuses last year. Millions of regular people got pretty new houses, and most of them are about to get a whopping discount on their mortgage. Nice deal for them, I think. If the prices had gone up, would they be sharing that profit with the banks? doubt it.
There’s a silver lining to all of that bullshit up on Capital Hill. These guys are now going to work their asses off to payback the money and get out from under these clowns in Congress.
Like I have said before on this blog – I do blame Suze Orman for a lot of this mess. 2-3 years ago she was pushing everyone and their mama to just BUY A HOUSE – the best investment you can make ever – and now look at our country.
What- am glad you brought up those disgusting hearings. My favorite moment yesterday was when I believe it was the CEO of Citi saying – “oh, we will return the private Jet that we had purchased AFTER the Feds gave us billions of dollars in aid” – um, HUH? what made you think it was OK to buy a private Jet with that money anyway? I think the days of corportate accountability are over-or at least I am hoping they are.
Dave, my press secrtary duties are never done ….
“Dave,
I think your anger at the less fortunate is misdirected. A bigger problem, from my perspective, is the wasteful use of taxpayer dollars to support a morally and financially corrupt corporate culture that shows no remorse at taking your money and placing it in their Swiss bank accounts. Of course, this does not excuse the wasteful use of money on a small fraction of people who could and should get off public assistance and get a job to support themselves.
You should also consider the fall out of such an approach to publis assistance on the people who live in your neighborhood. Though one can never be certain how that would play out, there is the possibility that it could negatively impact the community.
I will admit that I can sympathize with your anger. We are all angry with what is going on and feel powerless to change things for the better.
Please ntoe I still have an obsession with other people’s rectums.
Try to have a great day and know that this too shall pass.
The What.”
hey snark is there a http://tinyWhat.com?