Consumer Credit Falls For Ninth Straight Month

[girl gone mad]

This is one reason why I believe the recovery will not be V-shaped. Consumers are still retrenching and it doesn't appear that businesses are poised to pick up the slack.

From http://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-credit-falls-for-ninth-straight-month-2009-12">The Business Insider:

Consumer Credit Falls For Ninth Straight Month

October saw U.S. consumers' outstanding credit balances fall by 3.25%, the ninth straight month in a row balances have fallen. It seems clear now that Americans have learned that "credit" is not synonymous with "free money."

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/Current

[DJ13]

1. I think whats not being said by these articles is that some people

arent cutting back on using credit because they want to.

The reduction in available credit by the banks and people closing accounts to freeze CC rates at lower interest rates than the 29.9% being imposed by the banks is likely just as responsible for these figures as people with available credit not spending.

[Statistical]

2. The US consumer is way over extended...

the healthiest thing possible would be for consumer debt to fall for about a decade straight.

Get per capita consumer debt to <10% of gross income.

Still just because debt spending is falling doesn't mean you can't have sales, growth, revenue, etc.

Any growth based on debt is simply paying it forward so it shouldn't even really be considered growth.

[westerebus]

3. Game-set-match.

Deflation, it's the new verb.