An Arctic blast of cold air is likely to roll into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions this coming week, possibly producing one of the first snowmaking weather events of the year by late week.
“A very cold airmass for early November is poised to impact the Northeast late week into next weekend. A favorable upper atmospheric pattern should allow air from northern Canada to spill into the Great Lakes and Northeast. During this cold stretch, temperatures may average 10-20 degree F below normal for most of the Northeast, including the major cities. This may influence heating oil and natural gas demand, while allowing interior Northeast ski resorts to begin making snow for the winter season ahead, stated Ed Vallee, head meteorologist at Empire Weather LLC.
“An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
Strauss and Howe wrote their book in 1996. They were not trying to be prophets of doom, but observers of history able to connect events through human life cycles of 80 or so years. Using critical thinking skills and identifying the most likely triggers for crisis: debt, civic decay, and global disorder, they were able to anticipate scenarios which could drive the next crisis, which they warned would arrive in the mid-2000 decade. The scenario described above is fairly close to the current situation, driven by the showdown between Trump and the Democrats regarding the border wall.
It has not reached the stage where all hell breaks loose, but if it extends until the end of January and food stamp money is not distributed to 40 million people (mostly in urban ghettos) all bets are off. The likelihood of this scenario is small, but there are numerous potential triggers which could still make 2019 go down in history as a year to remember.
In Part One of this article I discussed the arrival of Grey Champions in previous Fourth Turnings; their attributes, deficiencies, and leadership skills; and why Donald Trump is the Grey Champion of this Fourth Turning – whether you like it or not. Now I will try to make sense of what could happen next.
“Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American people. The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. For those who control the levers of power in Washington and for the global special interests, they partner with these people that don’t have your good in mind. The political establishment that is trying to stop us is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration and economic and foreign policies that have bled our country dry.
It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities. The only thing that can stop this corrupt machine is you. The only force strong enough to save our country is us. The only people brave enough to vote out this corrupt establishment is you, the American people.” – Donald Trump
Seventy year old Donald Trump has assumed the Grey Champion flagstaff. In an increasingly chaotic world, normal working class Americans in flyover country were seeking a leader who could bring order, defeat the corrupt establishment, make tough decisions, and capture the zeitgeist of this moment in history. The ruling elite oligarchs and their fawning minions, occupying their strongholds in New York, California, Illinois, and D.C., are infuriated the peasants have dared to resist. In their secretive secure spaces, the elites are plotting with one purpose in mind – this uprising must be quelled.
At each of these great gates of history, eighty to a hundred years apart, a similar generational drama unfolded. Four archetypes, aligned in the same order – elder Prophet, midlife Nomad, young adult Hero, child Artist – together produced the most enduring legends in our history. Each time the Grey Champion appeared marked the arrival of a moment of “darkness, and adversity, and peril,” the climax of the Fourth Turning of the saeculum. – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
In September 2015 I wrote a five part article called Fourth Turning: Crisis of Trust. In Part 2 of that article I pondered who might emerge as the Grey Champion, leading the country during the second half of this Fourth TurningCrisis. I had the above pictures of Franklin, Lincoln, and FDR, along with a flaming question mark. The question has been answered. Donald J. Trump is the Grey Champion.
It’s coming, but it’s not here yet. The forecast is for sun and temperatures between 50 and 60 for the next week. I love this global warming, but I’m sure we’ll have some cold snowy days ahead.
In Part 1 of this article I discussed the catalyst spark which ignited this Fourth Turning and the seemingly delayed regeneracy. In Part 2 I pondered possible Grey Champion prophet generation leaders who could arise during the regeneracy. In Part 3 I focused on the economic channel of distress which is likely to be the primary driving force in the next phase of this Crisis. In Part 4 I assessed the social and cultural channels of distress dividing the nation. In Part 5 I examined the technological, ecological, political, military channels of distress likely to burst forth with the molten ingredients of this Fourth Turning, and finally in this final part, our rendezvous with destiny, with potential climaxes to this Winter of our discontent.
We are now in the seventh year of this Fourth Turning. A famous quote from the seventh year of the last Fourth Turning portended the desperate, bloody and ultimately heroic trials and tribulations which awaited generations of our ancestors. What will be our rendezvous with destiny?
“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – June 27, 1936 – Philadelphia, PA
Our Rendezvous With Destiny
“The seasons of time offer no guarantees. For modern societies, no less than for all forms of life, transformative change is discontinuous. For what seems an eternity, history goes nowhere – and then it suddenly flings us forward across some vast chaos that defies any mortal effort to plan our way there. The Fourth Turning will try our souls – and the saecular rhythm tells us that much will depend on how we face up to that trial. The saeculum does not reveal whether the story will have a happy ending, but it does tell us how and when our choices will make a difference.”– Strauss & Howe –The Fourth Turning
The people have been permitting a small cadre of elitists, billionaire financiers, corporate chiefs, propagandist media moguls, and crooked politicians to make the choices dictating the path of our country since the 2008 dawn of this Fourth Turning. The choices they have made and continue to make have imperiled the world and guaranteed a far more calamitous outcome as we attempt to navigate through the trials and tribulations ahead. Their strategy to “save the country” by saving bankers, while selling the plan to the public as beneficial to all and essential to saving our economic system, has proven to be nothing more than the greatest wealth transfer scheme in human history. The ruling class is deliberately blind to their own venality and capacity for evil.
In Part 1 of this article I discussed the catalyst spark which ignited this Fourth Turning and the seemingly delayed regeneracy. In Part 2 I pondered possible Grey Champion prophet generation leaders who could arise during the regeneracy. In Part 3 I focused on the economic channel of distress which is likely to be the primary driving force in the next phase of this Crisis. In Part 4 I assessed the social and cultural channels of distress dividing the nation. In Part 5 I’ll examine the technological, ecological, political, and military channels of distress likely to burst forth with the molten ingredients of this Fourth Turning, and finally in Part 6 our rendezvous with destiny, with potential climaxes to this Winter of our discontent.
Technological & Ecological Distress
“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”– Aldous Huxley – Ends and Means
The level of distress being produced by technology was probably underestimated by Strauss & Howe when they wrote their book in 1997. The internet, cell phones and e-commerce were still in their infancy, while cyber security was an unknown concept. Huxley would be shocked by how backwards we have “progressed” through the efficient distribution of iGadgets, creating millions of distracted, non-thinking, passive, easily pliable, willfully ignorant sheep who adore their technological servitude.
A vast swath of the populace never reads a book and can’t go more than a few minutes without checking their iGadget to view the latest funny cat video, the latest update on Kim Kardashian’s ass, Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner’s courage, or Lamar Odom’s latest whorehouse escapade. Our country is drowning in a sea of irrelevance as our infinite craving for diversions and triviality overwhelms any thoughts of confronting our oppressors. The adoration of technology has degraded our ability to think and allowed the Deep State to control the masses by amusing them to death.
The totalitarian Orwellian utilization of technology was exposed by a millennial with courage, intelligence, and love of his country – Edward Snowden. His revelations were very distressful to the felonious government apparatchiks who blatantly flaunt their disregard for the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The criminals at the NSA, fully supported by Obama and Congress, have made Big Brother look like an amateur, as they siphon up every phone call, text, email, and facebook entry made by each person in this country and for good measure the political leaders of our allies and enemies.
I wrote the first three parts of this article back in September and planned to finish it in early October, but life intervened and truthfully I don’t think I was ready to confront how bad things will likely get as this Fourth Turning moves into the violent, chaotic war stage just over the horizon. The developments in the Middle East, Europe, U.S., China and across the globe in the last months have confirmed my belief war drums are beating louder, global war beckons, and much bloodshed will be the result. Fourth Turnings proceed at their own pace within the 20 to 25 year crisis framework, but there is one guarantee – they never de-intensify as they progress. Just as Winter gets colder, stormier and more bitter as you proceed from December through February, Fourth Turnings get nastier, grimmer, more perilous, with our way of life hanging in the balance.
In Part 1 of this article I discussed the catalyst spark which ignited this Fourth Turning and the seemingly delayed regeneracy. In Part 2 I pondered possible Grey Champion prophet generation leaders who could arise during the regeneracy. In Part 3 I focused on the economic channel of distress which is likely to be the primary driving force in the next phase of this Crisis. In Part 4 I will assess the social and cultural channels of distress dividing the nation, Part 5 the technological, ecological, political, military channels of distress likely to burst forth with the molten ingredients of this Fourth Turning, and finally in Part 6 our rendezvous with destiny, with potential climaxes to this Winter of our discontent.
The road ahead will be distressful for everyone living in the U.S., as we experience the horrors of war, economic collapse, civil chaos, political upheaval, and the tearing of society’s social fabric. The pain and suffering being experienced across the globe today will not bypass the people of the United States. Winter has arrived and lethal storms are gathering in the distance. Don’t think you can escape. You can prepare, but this Crisis will reshape our society for better or worse, and you cannot sidestep the consequences or cruel environment we must survive.
In Part 1 of this article I discussed the catalyst spark which ignited this Fourth Turning and the seemingly delayed regeneracy. In Part 2 I will ponder possible Grey Champion prophet generation leaders who could arise during the regeneracy.
The nearly seven year reign of Barack Obama has resulted in furthering wealth inequality, in spite of his socialistic rhetoric. Notwithstanding his Nobel Peace Prize, military spending is at all-time highs and we are engaged in actual and proxy wars across the Middle East and in the Ukraine. Race relations have never been worse. Poverty levels have never been worse. Real median household income is lower than it was in 1989. Real hourly wages are at 50 year lows. Home ownership has plunged to 50 year lows, as middle class workers have been kicked out of their homes and young people are saddled with so much student loan debt and bleak job opportunities they will never have an opportunity to own. The ownership society pushed by Clinton and Bush, with the proliferation of Wall Street created “exotic” subprime mortgages, peddled to people incapable of paying their mortgages, blew up the world in 2008, and the fall out will last for decades.
Meanwhile, Wall Street banks have reaped $700 billion of ill-gotten profits since 2010 as the Federal Reserve has handed them trillions of interest free funds to gamble with, while rigging the financial markets, and paying their executives obscene bonuses. The hubris and arrogance of the Wall Street titans is appalling, as they buy politicians, write toothless financial regulations (Dodd Frank) for their bought off politicians to pass, report fraudulent financial results with the stamp of approval from the FASB, blatantly rig interest rate, currency, stock and commodities markets, and use deception and propaganda to distract and mislead the public through their corporate media mouthpieces – dependent upon Wall Street advertising revenue to thrive.
“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake. All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:
Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
Cultural distress, with the media plunging into a dizzying decay, and a decency backlash in favor of state censorship
Technological distress, with cryptoanarchy, high-tech oligarchy, and biogenetic chaos
Ecological distress, with atmospheric damage, energy or water shortages, and new diseases
Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction”
September 2015 marks the seventh anniversary of this Fourth Turning Crisis. The economic, social, cultural, ecological, political, and military distress propagates by the minute as the globe is besieged by economic turmoil, increased human suffering, and endemic corruption of the political and ruling classes. The Federal Reserve/Wall Street created global economic implosion was the spark which catalyzed this fourth Crisis period in U.S. history in September 2008. Neil Howe in a 2012 essay assessed the beginning of this Fourth Turning and why 9/11 was not the catalyst:
“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake. All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:
Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction”
When you read pertinent passages from Strauss & Howe’s prophetic assessment of history from a generational perspective, eighteen years after its publication and seven years into the Crisis they forecasted with uncanny accuracy, you find yourself shaking your head and appreciating their visionary generational appraisal of antiquity. Those who scorn The Fourth Turning either haven’t read it, are ignorant of the cyclical nature of history, blindly believe in never ending human progress, or their salary is dependent upon not acknowledging the truth. A year consists of four seasons – Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. A long human life of 80 years consists of four phases – childhood, young adulthood, mid-life, and old age. Human beings tend to associate themselves with the cohort born within the roughly 20 year period that makes up one phase of life.
Members of a generation share an age location in history, tend to share some common beliefs and behaviors, including basic attitudes about risk taking, culture and values, civic engagement, family life, and tend to have a sense of common perceived membership in that generation. The generational attitudes, moods, leaders, and events that occur during recurring 80 year cycles drive the pathway of history. Strauss & Howe have been able to document the Turnings of Anglo-American history back to 1435. Like the seasons in a year, there have been cyclical turnings every twenty years or so for centuries. They can be described as High (Spring), Awakening (Summer), Unraveling (Fall), Crisis (Winter). Each turning is a reflection of generational interactions, moods, and attitudes. We are now seven years into a Crisis that will likely not climax until the late 2020’s.
Saeculum
(climax year) Crisis (Full Era)
Time from one Crisis climax to next Crisis climax
Revolutionary
(1781) American Revolution (1773–1794)
Civil War
(1863) Civil War (1860–1865)
82 years
Great Power
(1944) Great Depression and World War II (1929-1946)
This is a serious warning: An early build-up of snow in the northern hemisphere suggests that governmental units, charities and families should be prepared for the possibility of extended periods of colder and/or snowier weather relative to average this winter. This would especially be a factor in the mid-South where they are not used to getting much snow in the winter. Budgets are going to be busted with snow removal. Many families will struggle with increased heating bills.
We continue to have a huge build-up of snow in the northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere. From Canada across Siberia to northern Europe, snow has come significantly earlier than average. There is a strong correlation between early snow cover in eastern Asia and cold/snowy winters in the eastern U.S. Air that sits over all that snow is going to be cold and getting colder as the sun continues to retreat to the south until we reach the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21.
The greatest human disaster of the last thousand years is upon us and governments are asleep at the helm. A train is barreling down the tracks headed right for the peoples of earth yet there are those who lie and say the train is moving away. As they cry about the heat, it is getting colder at a dangerous rate. The planet is losing heat even though things are heating up with volcanoes and earthquake activity.
Global cooling is hard reality, it is no one’s fantasy. It is not a computer model that creates mental fabrications and estimates of reality without touching on reality itself. Global cooling means cold and lots of it. That means lots more energy to keep warm if you live outside the tropics.
Look at the following video to get a peek at the speed of cooling that is going on. It will show you the northern ice pack; how fast it grew in a recent ten-day period. In the southern hemisphere, we just finished winter, and saw record sea ice form around Antarctica. I can feel that from here in the subtropics, for I live at the furthest point east in all of the Americas in Brazil. Looking down the globe from here it’s a straight ocean run to the ice pack ten thousand odd miles to the south.
Millions of us better start recalculating our lives. Certainly hundreds of towns and cities will have to recalculate their budgets for snow removal. Heating bills will have to be recalculated. Just imagine what will happen to many economies and the retail business if people cannot get out of their homes during the holidays.
It is understandable if it is hard to grasp the full danger here. First, the governments have everyone looking the other way so no one prepares. People in Bulgaria, as we shall see below, are already suffering from what I am talking about and it is still early fall.
Think of it this way to get your mind around it. A hurricane is headed directly toward you and it is going to be a whopper. First thing you do is run to the market and clear out the shelves, stocking up on everything you can think of in a hurry. No time to think because everyone else is running.
Now the size! This storm is going to hit the entire northern hemisphere at the same time starting now and building up and continuing for the next six months. In Bulgaria winter and unending snow of at least 40 hours duration is burying them right now taking their power as well. Even without record snow, record cold will be a storm on millions of lives.
Russia, China, Europe, Canada and the United States will be the worst hit. Crops have already been destroyed from early snow and cold. Do I have to put on a blue jacket and saddle up like Paul Revere yelling the cold is coming the cold is coming? Ebola will be the least of our problems.
I have been writing about global cooling for about seven years. It is that length of time at least since a long list of scientists have been warning us about what is going on. Obviously, we have not been listening and we have these loud obnoxious political sound machines out on all the streets blasting out warning of global warming.
Time Magazine and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a week ago. “The earth “could be” heading for its warmest year on record. Last month was the warmest September in 135 years of record keeping, with the global average temperature 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit (15.72 degrees Celsius), the Associated Press reports. May, June and August were also record-breaking months. NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden told AP it was “pretty likely” that 2014 would be the hottest year since measurements began.
Hard science is staring us right in the face. The sun is in retreat and it does that from time to time without fail. We have had Ebola and war threaten us but now the concern is going to shift week by week to the cold, snow and ice. I would not want to be without a BioMat during a long cold winter. Only problem is they depend on electricity.
This image shows that US is having coldest year on record-2014 “The most widespread heat occurred in 1931, when more than 98% of stations were over 90 degrees.” The percentage of US HCN stations to reach 90 degrees was the smallest on record this year, with four of the five coolest years occurring above 350 PPM CO2.
Winter in Fall
Gabrovo and Sevlievo declare emergency in Bulgaria because of extremely severe winter conditions at the end of October with two full months remaining before winter officially arrives. More than fifty villages have no electricity. All roads and passes in the region are blocked. The main roads in the country are closed, trains are stopped, and thousands of subscribers are without electricity. Heavy snow did not stop for ten hours, along with hurricane winds and freezing temperatures. 40 people, including 20 children, were stranded for four hours at the train station after trains stopped moving in the region. Authorities have mobilized all civil protection teams, fire and police, and 50 snowplows. However, their work is hampered by the columns of stranded cars.
The situation in Gabrovo Municipality seems to deteriorate with every passing hour after more than 35 hours of continuous snowfall. The heavy snowfall is cutting power in more and more settlements as their number by the moment is over 90. Three living districts in Gabrovo are also without electricity. Last time I checked it was 44 hours of continuous snow. The post-storm situation following this past week remains critical. Drinking water is unfit for human use due to turbidity of the local lake. About 50 villages and districts in the county town are still without electricity. The dire situation remains in force.
The amount of available grain will decline as temperatures get cooler. Even if you’re able to harvest it, if the wheat is covered with snow when you harvest it, once that snow melts and turns to water, the seeds become moldy. Russia has slashed its wheat crop forecast. Same conditions in the Ukraine – early snows damaged the corn. Sorghum, flax, millet, buckwheat, it doesn’t matter which grain you’re talking about, if it gets wet it’s unusable. As snows arrive earlier with a cooling phase on Earth, grain harvests and planting will be affected.
Moreover, what do we have served up for weather these coming days in the United States from AccuWeather?
Depending on its path, the storm could dump major snowfall over part of New England and as far south as the mountains of northern Georgia, leaving fallen trees and downed power lines in its wake. “A shocking blast of cold air and the potential for snow will highlight the weather for millions in the Eastern states this Halloween into the first weekend of November, says accuweather.com.
“The highest elevations of West Virginia may receive between 1 and 2 feet of snow,” says AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams. Meanwhile, a different storm will dump rain on the Pacific coast as far south as Southern California, where snow levels could drop to 5,000 feet.
Putin will be in the driver’s seat come Winter. The EU will rue the day they agreed to the U.S. economic sanctions against Russia. When they are freezing their asses off and their economies are a shambles in January, the sanctions will be lifted. Book it Dano.
Europeans can count on Russia to supply all the gas they need to stay warm this winter, according to Vladimir Putin. But the President warned that any action by Ukraine to disrupt the transit of fuel, will be felt across the EU. Read More: http://on.rt.com/sax0ov
Is a perfect storm forming for this coming winter? The temperature this morning at my house was 55 degrees. That is unheard of in the middle of August. If this cool summer is a sign of a frigid brutal winter ahead, as described below, I won’t be a happy camper. If Obama’s new anti-coal regulations really shut down power plants in January, it could mean a nasty winter ahead. Time to order another cord of wood, just in case.
ICE BLUE STATES: New EPA Regulations Threaten Devastating Power Outages This Winter
Barack Obama’s unlawful new EPA regulations — created in secret and orchestrated by what a Senate report calls “The Green Billionaires Club” — threaten the integrity of the entire electric grid this winter.
An unstable electric grid combined with a winter that promises to be “colder and snowier” than prior years appear to be a true recipe for disaster, especially in the bluest of states like Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
Joe Bastardi: … It’s flowing along right now into the type of El Nino situation that is notorious for giving the United States cold, snowy winters, especially in the eastern part of the United States, relative to the averages. That would be significant because we were within one power plant last year of having the grid overload …
Question: This is sounding horrific. I know that in the first quarter, the weather was said to be to blame for the slow economic growth. Are we going to stop working, basically is what you’re saying?
Joe Bastardi: This year, if you get the kind of winter that we had in 2009-2010 or 2002-2003 with the nation’s grid on the ropes the way it is and some of these regulations that I hear about coming down that are supposed to close plants on January 1st – and what I know, because we’re involved in getting people ready to fight snow in cities around the country – this could be a very, very big economic impact on the winter. And we’re very concerned about that.
Under the bogus rubric of “protecting the environment”, the Green Energy Billionaire’s Club operates in secret while simultaneously enriching itself and undermining capitalism.
As usual, the corporate MSM is attempting to spin a shitty retail sales report into a report showing consumers are back baby. They desperately want this storyline to convince the sheeple that all is well in our consumer spending dependent economy. The headline on the Rupert Murdoch owned Marketwatch was:
U.S. RETAIL SALES RISE AT A BRISK PACE
I guess their definition of brisk and my definition of brisk are slightly different. The storyline during the winter was the shitty retail sales were due to the cold weather. We were told retail sales would skyrocket come spring. Well let’s examine what has happened from March through May, which the last time I checked constituted Spring. Here is a link to the data I’ll be referencing:
Excluding the debt financed auto sales, retail sales grew by an infinitesimal .07%.
We know for a fact that auto loan length is at a record high of 66 months, auto leases are at an all-time high of 26%, and 34% of all loans are being made to people with bad credit. Does anyone really think these are sales? They constitute 20% of all retail sales in this country.
Retail sales are $18 billion higher this May versus last May. $8.4 billion, or 47% of that increase, is attributable to Government Motors through Ally Financial and the rest of the Wall Street bankers doling out easy money loans to deadbeats.
During this supposed retail recovery from the dreadful winter, total retail sales have grown by a total of $3.6 billion from March through May. That is a miniscule 0.8%. When you back out the auto sales, it is a microscopic 0.5%. On an annualized basis retail sales are growing at below 2%.
With inflation running at 5% or higher, REAL retail sales are declining. This is why retailers are reporting horrible profit results.
Over the last three months retail sales, excluding autos, has risen $1.7 billion. You’ll be thrilled to know that $0.6 billion of that increase is from you paying more at gasoline stations. That is 34% of the increase. Another $0.8 billion was spent at building and materials stores to make repairs on your houses damaged from the winter storms.
Over the last three months sales have declined at electronics & appliance stores, food stores, restaurants and for all the idiots thinking on-line is the reason bricks and mortar is dying – INTERNET SALES DECLINED. I guess sales tax does matter.
Again, the MSM and the Wall Street shyters are wrong. There is no retail recovery. It was not the weather. The only retail being done is through easy long-term auto and home furnishing debt. The loan losses will follow when the next financial crisis arrives. The retail death rattle grows ever louder as Radio Shack announced results that foretell a bankruptcy filing before year end. That will mean 5,000 more SPACE AVAILABLE signs in strip malls and regional malls across America.
