More good news for the economy

[NJmaverick]

Stores to post modest December sales gains

NEW YORK – Holiday shoppers bought a little more jewelry, electronics and boots but passed by the women's clothing racks, according to figures released Wednesday.

The latest figures from MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse also offered confirmation that shoppers were deliberate in their spending. The data service tracks all forms of payment, including cash.

Still, retailers are feeling somewhat encouraged, entering 2010 with fewer clearance racks and expecting fourth-quarter profits to improve compared with last year, when many lost money.

"It was a holiday season of modest sales gains but healthy profits," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. "The question is, what kind of momentum do we have in the next few weeks? There is no reason for shoppers to buy."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100106/ap_on_bi_ge/us_retail_sales_outlook

Slowly but surely the economic ship is doing a 180 and heading back in the right direction.

[NYC_SKP]

1. So, this OP is unrecced while the "Obama Lied 8 Times" OP is recced up to 8.

What fucking bullshit.

K and R.

[NJmaverick]

3. Anything positive is always unrecced by the invisible army

that's a given.

[walldude]

5. Yeah.. you are a victim of an invisible army conspiracy who's sole purpose

is to go around unreccing your threads.. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: It has nothing to do with the fact that your thread is simple minded Bush mentality bullshit.

[NJmaverick]

8. very true, it's not like freepers don't spend hours "freeping polls"

so it's safe to assume they would never dream of "freeping" DU. After all they love us over there.

[walldude]

11. Yes you are the victim of a conspiracy

it has nothing to do with your posts, your attitude, or the fact that you posted this simple minded crap as evidence that the economy is recovering. Really. I'm sure of it.

[NJmaverick]

12. You seem to be pretty naive if you think freepers would not freep DU

to push an anti-Obama/Dem agenda.


Still you do make one valid point. There are DUers that are so caught up in their anti-Obama agendas that anything that doesn't support that agenda draws their ire and wrath.

[sharp_stick]

13. As is your simple minded reply

Bush mentality bullshit... Fuck me, comparing someone around here to shrub is sure a common demoninator in bush league assholery and far too common.

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Sorry but

patching up a consumer based economy has NOTHING to do with seeing the economy headed in the right direction.

The economy will be headed in the right direction when we start to see:
- job creation
- less wage inequality
- more small business creation and growth
- GDP that reflects a growth in real economic productivity

Of course, I have little expectation that there will be any effort to see these things happen. The corporate loyalists remain in power.

[NJmaverick]

4. Those indicators you list are LATE indicators

in other words the economy will be well on its way to recovery before those indicators start showing it.

[Coyote_Bandit]

14. Ummmm......

My point - which you obviously missed - is that we are simply rebuilding an economy that remains dependent upon consumer spending. We are not building an economy based on real production.

You can have an economic recovery without job creation. Witness the last severl recessions.

There hasn't been anything done to decrease wage inequality. Quite the contrary actually. When there was an opportunity to prohibit excessive bonus compensation the idea was barely entertained - and certainly not seriously considered. Never mind golden parachutes for even failed and/or criminal executives.

Only a pittance has been done to stimulate small business creation and growth. But we threw trillions of $$$$$ at the big banks whose policies and practices endangered their own survival - and put the savings of millions of citizens at risk.

Increasing GDP does not necessarily reflect growth in real economic productivity. About 2/3 of GDP is fucking conwsumer spending. And that is an illusion of real productivity. Not much being done to change that.

You should look beyond Wall Street measures as how the economy functions, what is included in those measures and how those measures are useful. Bottom line is we have an economy dominated by large multi-national corporations who exist to sell us imported crap. There isn't anythig being done to change that and it is short sighted to pretend that such an economy is ultimately healthy or sustainable.

[Dr.Phool]

6. Reality check.

http://wallstreetexaminer.com/2010/01/05/tax-receipts-down-means-treasury-supply-up-professional-edition/


Tax Receipts Down Means Treasury Supply Up – Professional Edition
January 5, 2010
By Lee Adler

Month to date tax receipts are now in for the entire month of December. They’re down 7.7% from December 2008, which is exactly the same rate of decline as November’s. We know that the TBAC and Treasury officials were not anticipating that in their debt sales forecast for the first quarter. They had assumed that a recovery was taking root and would continue to do so. That spells trouble for both bonds and stocks. Here’s why, and what to expect as a result.

Meanwhile, the implications of the NAR’s data on pending home sales are terrifying. Click here to download complete report in pdf format (Professional Edition Subscribers). Try the Professional Edition risk free for thirty days. If, within that time, you don’t find the information useful, I will give you a full refund. It’s that simple. Click here for more information.
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The rest is subscription.

These are real numbers for sales tax receipts for the whole country.

December 2008 was generally accepted as the low point in the recession. And this past November and December were almost 8 percent lower?

[NJmaverick]

7. FACT CHECK- Tax receipts generally miss online sales

[Dr.Phool]

9. I guess they missed last years too, huh?

It's still a whopping decline.

[NJmaverick]

10. FACT CHECK- Online sales have been increasing yearly