[Prince]

Euro at an all-time vs the USD...

Oil pushing towards an all-time high...

Subprime lenders in deep hurt...

All of this came this week.

And yet, yesterday, the stock market hits record highs yesterday "on retail sales"

It doesn't make sense. What's going on?

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Prince', 'E')uro at an all-time vs the USD...

Oil pushing towards an all-time high...

Subprime lenders in deep hurt...

All of this came this week.

And yet, yesterday, the stock market hits record highs yesterday "on retail sales"

It doesn't make sense. What's going on?

[Pops]

I suppose there is no chance of layoffs at the US Mint printing plant.

Funny, I also heard revolving credit spending was up big last month; wonder what they are spending their kid’s inheritance on?

[I_Like_Plants]

They're borrowing to maintain the lifestyle to which they're accustomed.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'T')hey're borrowing to maintain the lifestyle to which they're accustomed.

[savethehumans]

I wish I could post links here, but they keep telling me that I haven't listed a URL, and I have no idea what they are talking about. (I'm that much of a computer tyro.)

Here's a portion of an article that ran in Friday's Kansas City Star about the June drop in consumer spending:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')onsumers sent retail sales plunging in June by the sharpest amount in nearly two years.

Sales of autos, furniture and building supplies all fell, highlighting the economy’s weak spots.

The 0.9 percent drop in retail sales was the biggest decline since August 2005, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

It was a far bigger setback than the flat reading that had been forecast.

Part of the weakness was seen as payback for a surprise on the upside in May, when sales surged 1.5 percent. But the June decline was also viewed as an indication that consumers are cutting back under a barrage of higher prices and a recession in the housing industry.

Auto sales dropped 2.9 percent in June. Sales at furniture stores were down 3 percent, their biggest setback since February 2003. And sales at hardware stores fell 2.3 percent.

Sales at specialty clothing stores fell 1.4 percent while department stores saw sales fall 1 percent. A broader category that includes traditional department stores and big chains such as Wal-Mart posted an increase of 0.3 percent in June.

“Consumers are increasingly cautious in the face of higher gasoline and food prices and slowing home price gains,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

[I_Like_Plants]

I'm trying to think if I've bought shit in June and coming up pretty dry.

for one thing, most of my buying for resale was taxed and thus would be counted as retail. I'm not doing that any more, so from $500 or more a month, generally far more, we're down to zero there.

I've not been buying household stuff, I think I spent maybe as much as $20 on some shirts and a pair of shorts at the thrift stores.

I've just been cutting back all around, and I think most people have.

I'd certainly say compared to May my buying was down steeply, in May I thought I'd maybe not end up near-homeless, now I know I will hehe