RETAIL SALES SURGE!!! ACCORDING TO MSM – OH YEAH IT WAS FOR GASOLINE

3 comments

Posted on 13th March 2013 by Administrator in Economy |Politics |Social Issues

, , , , , ,

I see the huge MSM headline that retail sales SURGED in February. Glory be to the father, the economy is saved. One little tiny itsy bitsy problem. The SURGE was due to gasoline prices going up 15% and you having to spend gobs more money filling your gas tank. But that doesn’t make a good headline.  Here is a link to the retail report:

http://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf

 Here are my observations:

  • “Adjusted” retail sales rose by $4.4 billion, but unadjusted sales FELL by $1.4 billion. Gotta love those government “adjustments”.
  • Note this closely. Of the $4.4 billion SURGE in retail sales, $2.3 billion was from gasoline stations. For the math challenged morons in the MSM, that means that 52% of the increase was due to average Americans spending their hard earned wages on fuel. Thank you Ben Bernanke for that non-existent inflation.
  • Another $900 million of the increase was from auto sales, which are entirely financed by cheap government debt through Ally Financial (Failed the Fed stress test) and the other criminal Wall Street banks. That accounts for another 20% of the increase.
  • Grocery stores accounted for another $400 million as food prices continue to rise. That accounts for another 9%, with internet purchases increasing $600 million (14%) because people can’t afford to drive to malls anymore.
  • Gas, autos, food, and internet purchases accounted for 95% of the retail sales SURGE. What a fantastic month!!!!
  • Sales at furniture stores, electronics stores, sporting goods stores, and restaurants FELL, even using the good old “adjusted” government figures. This is called discretionary spending. It’s where people spend when they have something left over from trying to survive their day to day existence.

I suppose the stock market will SURGE on this wonderful data. It’s really hard to watch this propaganda machine in action when you know the truth. So it goes.

U.S. retail sales jump 1.1% in February

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. retail sales posted the biggest increase in February in five months, but about half the increase took place at gas stations and reflected higher prices at the pump. Sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1% last month, or by 1.0% excluding the auto sector, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected retail sales to jump 0.7% for both the overall number and minus autos. Sales rose a smaller 0.6% excluding gas stations and 0.4% minus autos and gas. Retail sales are a good proxy for how fast the U.S. is growing and the latest data sugggest consumer spending is fairly steady. In the past 12 months, retail sales are up 4.6%, slightly more than double the rate of consumer inflation. Last month, sales surged at auto dealers, gas stations, building-material stores and Internet retailers. Gas-station sales shot up 5%, the biggest increase since oil prices spiked last August. Sales also rose slightly for stores that sell clothes and general merchandise. Sales fell at department stores and shops that sell home furnishings, electronics, and sporting and hobby items. Bar and restaurant sales also declined. In January, the increase in retail sales was revised up a tick to 0.2%. December sales were unchanged at a 0.5% gain.

 
 
3 Comments

  1. Administrator says:

    Adjusted February Retail Sales Rise More Than Expected As Actual Retail Sales Post First Decline In Three Years

    Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/13/2013 08:59 -0400

    In a news release that would have been blamed on delayed tax refunds and “the weather” if it was a miss, but confirms a stronger consumer if it beat, and denies everything Wal Mart was warning about regarding February sales, today’s retail sales just came stronger than expected in both the headline print (+1.1%, on expectations of a +0.5% rise), the Ex-Autos (+1.0%, Exp. 0.5%), and the Ex-autos and gas (0.4%, Exp. 0.2%). All of this of course was on a seasonally-adjusted basis (more on this shortly). This was the biggest beat of expectations since October 2011, and the biggest monthly rise in five months. The number was driven by a 5.0% jump in gasoline station sales, a 1.8% increase in Miscellaneous store retailers, a 1.6% rise in non-store retailers and a 1.1% increase in the broad retail and food services category. Declines were noted in Furniture stores (-1.6%), Electronics and Appliance stores (-0.2%), and Sporting goods and music stores (-0.9%).

    So on the surface all was good. The seasonally adjusted surface. because the unadjusted headline number in February actually posted the first sequential decline since 2010, as retail sales declined from $382.4 billion to $381.0 billion: this was the first sequential decline in retail sales in the month of February in three years. Yet somehow the decline actually translated into a growth of $4.4 billion on an adjusted basis, meaning the entire beat was, once more, purely in the calendar adjustment.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0

    13th March 2013 at 10:02 am

  2. Thinker says:

    Jim, check out Adam Taggart’s new piece; it sounds like something you wrote.

    America Isn’t Ready For Its Future

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0

    13th March 2013 at 11:10 am

  3. TeresaE says:

    They no longer even pretend to match their “adjusted” (headline) to reality.

    I buy in bulk, when inflation hits in bulk it is mega-noticed.

    Prices on some items are up 50% year over year.

    If ACTUAL sales $$$$$ fell and inflation adjusted is WAY above what they tell us (as we all know it is), then we are in some deep shit.

    But, no worries, its a recovery!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

    13th March 2013 at 1:13 pm

Leave a comment

You can add images to your comment by clicking here.