So on-line sales FELL in March versus February. Was it the weather? The MSM pundits and Wall Street shyster economists have used weather as the excuse for the avalanche of horrific data pouring in since November of last year. Of course this winter was warmer than normal and far warmer than last year’s Polar Vortex winter of discontent. But we all know facts are meaningless when you have a storyline to peddle and stocks to sell to muppets.
If the weather was so dreadful, wouldn’t on-line sales benefit greatly? Why would internet sales fall versus February and only rise 3.9% versus last year. Why would internet sales only rise by 4.5% in the first 3 months if the consumer is back, jobs are plentiful and consumer confidence is at 7 year highs? Declining internet sales surely bodes well for Amazon and its $385 price and PE ratio of infinity.
The overall retail sales figures are nothing short of a disaster. Overall retail sales, excluding the subprime debt fueled car giveaways, were up a paltry .4% over February. You also won’t hear the pundits mentioning that Easter was over two weeks earlier this year, and should have boosted March spending. Tell that to the dying department store chains who saw year over year sales FALL 1.1% in March. Electronics stores also saw a 1.9% year over year decline. So much for the Best Buy revival. The decent spending on autos and furniture is not spending at all. The surge in non-revolving debt accounts for the entire increase. These people aren’t using money to buy those cars and couches. They are borrowing the full amount.
The first three months of this year, versus the polar vortex first three months of last year, are a disaster. Retail sales, excluding auto giveaways, are up 0.8% over last year. The BLS reported inflation of 2% and the real inflation of 5% to 10%, means that real retail sales are falling. Retailers will be reporting falling profits. More store closings are on the way. Walgreens announced they are closing 200 stores just the other day – and they are supposedly doing well.
The fact is that people without money, stagnant wages, rising costs, and dependent upon credit cards to survive will not and cannot spend. With 67% of the economy dependent upon them spending, we’re done. Stick a fork in this economy. We’re in a recession. Wait until those auto, furniture, and student loans start going bad en mass. The shit will really hit the fan. The last time retail sales missed expectations four months in a row was in 2008. Hmm. I wonder what happened next.
It’s because of sun spot activity. Once adjusted for sunspots, there’s a surprising gain.
The economy of the Soviet Union suffered 70 years of bad weather. We are now suffering lots of bad weather. Is there a connection here?
My inbox is flooded with insane pleas for me to buy more shit. 25% off here, free shipping there, and all sorts of coupons and codes so I can get $100 off the bill of sale and whatnot. I suppose this is because retail is skyrocketing?
Buy stawks!
Recovery!
Bullish for bonds!
Eurozone healed!
Jim Cramer!
Obuttered Buns healthcare savings!
Inconceivable! How can a society – which has recently replaced most of its full-time living-wage full-benefit jobs with either unemployment or with part-time minimum-wage no-benefit jobs, with inadequate incomes supplemented by taking on an increasingly crushing debt-load – have poor retail sales?
Visited the local Target looking for a chaise lounger this last Sunday afternoon. This is one of the “Super” Targets which includes a grocery dept. You could have landed a jumbo jet it was so empty. FInally found a suitable lounger but the only price was the shelf-sticker, no upc tag on the item. I told my wife “this will be fun at checkout” and sure ’nuff, it took the store manager and 2 ass-sociates to get the stock #, which pulled up a price about $30 over what the shelf-sticker said. Finally I told the manager I would be glad to walk her back to the display so she could see for herself. She said screw it, just charge him the $59.95 (was actually $59.00 but after wasting 15 minutes I was ready to leave).
If this store had any actual traffic I can’t imagine the disaster it would cause at check-out. What a bunch of maroons!
Agreed, Westcoaster. I don’t know how Target has such a great reputation I hate that store.
Every time I go in there they don’t have what I want. If I do find something to buy (usually socks), if they do manage to have the pack I want, it rings at the register up for a different price than posted on the sock rack. But the nearby Target is usually out of socks anyway….where did all the socks go?
The food section is total crap. Nearly every product on the shelves is stuffed full of high fructose corn syrup. I can get milk and cheese at a better price anywhere. Never shop their food.
Toilet paper comes in a 38 roll pack and costs nearly 20 bucks. I’m on a weekly budget AND I ride the bus. I don’t have $20 for fucking toilet paper and how am I supposed to haul that monster TP packet on the bus? Forget it.
The only thing they’ve got going for them is cheap kitty treats. I’m not hiking across ten acres of floor space pushing a giant red plastic cart – for 6 packets of kitty treats.
Target sucks.
Most interesting is car sales.
Fed government vehicle sales have been on a tear going back over a year. Read this at ZH a month or so ago.
March federal autosales were up 24% year over year, month after month of double digit increases.
I swear to God federal spend is more than 70% of our “real” economy.
I’m sure that is the means to long-lasting peace and ever-increasing standards of living.
So much trouble, so little lifetime left to pay for it.
@Westcoaster and Stanley
I share your disdain for the retailer known as Target. I would guess that I may have been in Target maybe three times in the last fifteen years. It has nothing that appeals to me and that includes the employees. They would seriously go bankrupt waiting for me to drop a few FRNs, glad to know others feel the same. Bea