Tag: December retail sales

US Retail Sales Collapse In December: Biggest Drop In A Decade

Best economy evah!!!! said DJT. Need I remind you that GDP is 68% dependent upon idiots spending money they don’t have on shit they don’t need. It appears the ignorant masses have hit the proverbial wall. This data point along with auto loan delinquencies at 10 year highs tells the true picture. The stock market isn’t telling the truth. 2019 recession has arrived.

Via ZeroHedge

While Bank of America had warned investors to brace for a dismal retail spending print in January, expectations remained positive (albeit just a 0.1% MoM move) for December’s (delayed due to shutdown) official spending data today. As a reminder, on Tuesday we reported that retail sales ex-autos, as measured by the aggregated BAC credit and debit card data, tumbled 0.3% month-over-month seasonally adjusted in January – the biggest drop in three years. This followed a flat reading in retail sales ex-autos in December.

Turning to the January BAC internal data, in January, spending for 4 out of 14 sectors increased in the month, showing broad-based weakening.

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Retail Sales Miss December Expectations For 4th Straight Year

The MSM told me this was the greatest Holiday sales season ever. That’s funny, because the data below shows sales at electronics, clothing, sporting goods, and department stores fell in December. Retailers are announcing more store closings and firing tens of thousands of workers. Something smells funny.

DECEMBER RETAIL SALES – UNEQUIVOCAL DISASTER

In case you hadn’t noticed, the MSM storyline was obliterated this morning with the December retail sales report. There is absolutely no way for the shysters and charlatans in the media, Wall Street or government to spin this data in a positive manner. The shit is hitting the fan. A recession for the average American is confirmed. Plunging gas prices haven’t done shit to motivate people to spend money they don’t have.

And guess what you won’t hear from CNBC or any of the corporate media?

POLAR VORTEX

 

You see, that was the storyline last year to explain the terrible December and January retail sales. So let me get this straight. Last December the country was buried under snow in sub-zero temperatures versus a tranquil, calm, non-snowy December this year. Not a peep from The MSM about last December’s Polar vortex

Shouldn’t this great weather, “fabulous” plunge in the unemployment rate, and billions of dollars put back into pockets by collapsing gas prices, have spurred an awesome retail sales surge this year? The Wall Street shysters drove the stock market to record highs in December based on this false storyline. The decline in real wages in November revealed the falsehood of the jobs recovery. Any savings from lower gas prices is being used to pay down credit card debt and pay for the dramatically higher healthcare costs caused by Obamacare.

This economy is in the tank and headed lower. The GDP numbers are a sham. The employment numbers are a sham. You know it. I know it. And now the sheep are waking up and realize they have been lied to. Stock market records are meaningless to people trying to get by on a daily basis.

After perusing the data on the Census Bureau website, here are my observations:

  • Year over year retail sales only rose 3.2% in December. That is before inflation, which the BLS says was 1.7% and I say is above 4%. Either way, real sales sucked. Then take into consideration there were 3 million less employed people and a polar vortex last December.
  • The MSM said consumers had a windfall from the $6.5 billion decrease in gasoline sales. We were all supposed to buy a new HDTV or iGadget with our newly found riches. Oops. Electronics and appliance sales FELL in December versus November.
  • Retail sales simply don’t fall in December versus November unless you are in recession or headed into recession.
  • It seems even the subprime auto loan scheme is petering out. Auto sales (7 year rentals) declined in December. Maybe the fact that auto loan debt delinquencies are approaching 2008 levels is giving them pause in selling autos to people without the means or inclination to make the payments.
  • Anyone looking for a JC Penney, Sears, Macy’s led department store revival is sad. Clothing store sales dropped. Department store sales dropped. Sporting goods store sales dropped.
  • And drum roll please. On-line store sales DROPPED. The Amazon revolution is dead.

It seems the markets don’t like it. The pain has just begun. A global recession is underway. It’s a deflationary unwinding of debt and mal-investment. There is no cure except for collapse. Central bankers have shot their load. Their credibility is shot. No one believes more debt will cure a debt problem – except for a few Ivy League educated economists. A shitstorm is a brewing. Get ready.