This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
American Malls In Meltdown - The Economic Recovery Is Complete & Utter Fraud
Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,
The government issued their monthly retail sales this past week and four of the biggest department store chains in the country announced their quarterly results. The year over year retail sales increase of 2.4% is pitifully low in an economy that is supposedly in its sixth year of economic growth with a reported unemployment rate of only 5.3%. If all of these jobs have been created, why aren’t retail sales booming?
The year to date numbers are even worse than the year over year numbers. With consumer spending accounting for 70% of our GDP and real inflation running north of 5%, it’s pretty clear most Americans are experiencing a recession, despite the propaganda data circulated by the government and Fed. The only people not experiencing a recession are corporate executives enriching themselves through stock buybacks, Wall Street bankers using free Fed Bucks while rigging the the markets in their favor, politicians and government bureaucrats reaping their bribes from billionaire oligarchs, and the media toadies who dispense the Deep State approved propaganda to keep the ignorant masses dazed, confused, and endlessly distracted by Cecil the Lion, Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, Ferguson, and blood coming out of whatever.
You won’t hear CNBC, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal or any corporate mainstream media outlet reference the fact retail sales growth is at the exact same levels as when recession hit in 2008 and 2001. Their job is to regurgitate the message of economic recovery and confidence in the future, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Retail sales are actually far worse than the 2.4% reported number. Excluding the subprime debt fueled auto sales, retail sales only grew by 1.3% in the last year. The automakers are practically giving vehicles away as their lots are stuffed with inventory. The length of auto loans and the average amount of auto loans are now at all-time highs. The percentage of subprime auto loans is surging to record levels, as defaults begin to rise. The percentage of vehicles being leased is also at an all-time high. To call these “auto sales” strains credibility. These people are either perpetually renting their vehicles or just driving them until the repo man shows up.

The relatively strong year over year furniture sales is also driven by the fact that you can finance the purchase at 0% interest for seven years. All is well for the Ally Financial, GE Capital and the myriad of fly by night subprime lenders until the recession arrives, unemployment soars, and defaults skyrocket. Then their bloated debt ridden balance sheets will explode in an avalanche of defaults. That’s when they insist on another taxpayer bailout to “save the financial system”.
The year over year crash in oil prices was supposed to result in a huge spending splurge by the masses, according to the media talking heads. You don’t hear much about that storyline anymore. The talking heads are now worried that oil prices are too low. I guess the tens of thousands of layoffs in the oil industry and the obliteration of the Wall Street financed shale oil fraud storyline is offsetting the $10 per week in gasoline savings for the average driver.
At least restaurant and bar sales remain strong. It seems Americans have decided to eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow they die. I do believe there is some truth to that saying in today’s world. I think people are drowning their sorrows by drinking and eating. They’ve drastically reduced buying stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have. Spending their gas savings at a restaurant or bar is still doable.
With real median household income at 1989 levels, real unemployment north of 15%, a massive level of under-employment, young people unable to buy a home – saddled with $1 trillion of student loan debt, middle aged parents struggling to take care of their aging parents and struggling children, and Boomers who never saved for their retirement, the mood of the country is decidedly dark and getting darker by the day. The rise of Trump and Sanders in the polls is an indication of this dissatisfaction with the existing social order.
The part of the retail report flashing red is the sales of General Merchandise stores, and particularly department stores. This category includes the likes of Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Sears, Macy’s, Kohls, and JC Penney. General merchandise sales fell 0.5% in July, with Department store sales dropping by 0.8%. Sales at these behemoth retailers have barely budged in the last year, with overall sales up a dreadful 0.3%. The dying department stores have seen their sales plummet by 2.7%. The talk of a retail revival is dead on arrival. Wal-Mart and Target muddle on with lackluster results, while JC Penney and Sears continue their Bataan Death March towards the retail graveyard.
The false narrative of economic recovery can be blown to smithereens by the historical data on the Census Bureau website. Their time series data goes back to 1992. GDP has supposedly risen by 22% since 2007. General merchandise sales were $48.4 billion in July 2007. They were $56.1 billion in July 2015. That’s a 15.9% increase in eight years. Even the manipulated and massaged BLS CPI figure has increased 14.5% over this same time frame. That means that REAL retail sales at the nation’s biggest retailers has been virtually flat for the last eight years. Does that happen during an economic recovery?
The department store data is almost beyond comprehension. July department store sales were the lowest in the history of the data series. Sales of $13.8 billion were 22% below the July 2007 level of $17.6 billion. They were 28% below the peak level of $19.2 billion in 1999. Real department store sales are 36.5% BELOW where they were in 2007, and Wall Street shysters have had buy ratings on these stocks the whole way down. These worthless hucksters remove the buy rating the day before these dinosaur department stores declare bankruptcy. Excluding the debt driven auto sales, real retail sales are flat with 2008 levels.
The data from the Census Bureau has been more than confirmed by the absolutely atrocious financial results reported by Macy’s, Kohls, Sears and J.C. Penney. Retailers do not report results this poor during economic recoveries. The results clearly point to an ongoing recession for the middle and lower classes who do the majority of working and spending in this country. The rich continue to spend their stock market winnings at exclusive boutiques and high end retailers like Nordstrom, but the average American is being sucked into the abyss by rising food prices, rent, home prices, tuition, and the Obamacare driven health insurance and medical costs. With declining real wages, they have less and less disposable income to spend buying cheap Chinese crap at their local mall department stores.
Here is a glimpse into the results of department store dinosaurs headed towards extinction:
Macy’s
- Overall sales fell 2.6%, while comparable store sales fell by 2.1%, as Macy’s continues to close under-performing stores. News flash: there are many more stores to close.
- Profits crashed by 25.7% as gross margins declined and expenses rose.
- Cash flow from operations has declined by a staggering 46% in the first six months of this year.
- The bozos running this sinking retailer have mind bogglingly burned through $787 million of cash, while adding $452 million in long term debt to buyback their own stock. Executive compensation is stock based, so wasting close to $1.6 billion in the last year as sales and profits fall, is considered prudent management by the CEO.
- Despite falling sales, the management of this sinking ship have increased inventory by $200 million in the last year. This bodes well for margins in the second half of the year.
- The long-term future for this retailer gets bleaker by the day as their long-term debt, pension liabilities, and other long term obligations total $10.4 billion, while their declining stockholder’s equity totals $4.8 billion.
- To show you how far Macy’s has come in the last nine years you just need to compare their results from the 2nd quarter of 2006 to today. They registered sales of $6.0 billion versus $6.1 billion today. On a real, inflation adjusted basis, their sales have fallen by 16% over the nine year period. They had profits of $317 million in 2006, 46% more than the $217 million in the 2nd quarter of 2015. They had $13.6 billion of equity and $8.2 billion of long-term debt.
- And now for the best part. Despite generating 46% less income than they did 9 years ago, Macy’s stock sits at $63 per share, while it traded at $36 per share in 2006. A company with declining revenue, declining profits and a bleak future should not be sporting a PE ratio of 16. When this recession really takes hold, their 2009 price level of $9 per share will be challenged on its way to Radio Shack land – $0 per share.
Kohl’s
- Overall sales were up a pathetic 0.6% after last year’s 2nd quarter sales were lower than 2013. Comp store sales were up only 0.1% after being down 1.3% the previous year.
- Profits fell precipitously by a mere 44% versus the prior year, down by $102 million. Margins fell while expenses rose.
- In the lemming like behavior of corporate CEOs across the land, this struggling retailer thought it was a brilliant idea to go $330 billion further into debt, while buying back $543 million of stock in the first six months.
- While sales are essentially flat, the executives of this company ratcheted up their inventory levels by 9% in the last year. Flat sales growth and surging inventory levels leads to plunging margins and profits. I guess that’s why I got a 30% off everything coupon in the mail last week.
- Cash from operations has crashed by 52% in the first six months. You would think prudent executives would be using a half a billion of cash to buy stock and boost their compensation packages.
- Another comparison to yesteryear provides some perspective on how well Kohl’s is performing. During the 2nd quarter of 2007 they generated $3.6 billion of sales and $269 million of profits. Their overall sales are up 19% (3% on a real basis) even though they have increased their store base by 38%. Profits in 2015 were 52% lower than 2007.
- Sales per store is 14% lower today than it was in 2007. And even more worrisome for their long term survival, inventory levels are up 59% compared to the 19% increase in sales.
- Again, the stock price peaked in 2007 at $76 and earlier this year reached a new all-time high of $79. Despite deteriorating financial conditions, poor management, plunging cash levels, and nothing on the horizon to portend a turnaround, the stock trades at a PE ratio of 13.
Sears
- Sears hasn’t reported their 2nd quarter results yet, but pre-announced that same store sales crashed by 10.6% versus last year. They are truly dead retailer walking, as Eddie Lampert’s real estate maneuvers attempt to hide the coming bankruptcy from unsuspecting investors is nothing but smoke and mirrors perpetuated by Eddie and his Wall Street shyster bankers. Excluding his desperate real estate schemes, they will lose another $300 million.
- In the last four years, during an economic recovery, Sears has seen their sales crater from $43 billion to $31 billion, and still falling. They have managed to lose $7.4 billion in just over four years and their stock still trades at $25 per share – proving there is a sucker born every minute.
- They continue to close hundreds of stores and still can’t stop the hemorrhaging. The decade of using financial gimmicks rather than investing in his stores is coming home to roost for Eddie “the next Warren Buffett” Lampert. Of course, he will arrange matters in a way where he wins, while the stockholders lose when the bankruptcy papers are filed.
- The balance sheet is a disaster. They have generated a Negative cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion in the last twelve months. They have burned through $556 million of cash. They have $8.4 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities, with equity of NEGATIVE $1.2 billion.
- Sears may be the worst run business in America, and its chances of going bankrupt are 100%, but the Wall Street hype machine has its stock price at $25 per share, 20% higher than it was in late 2008. For some perspective, Sears’ 2nd quarter 2008 revenues totaled $11.8 billion and they made a $65 million profit. Sales in the 2nd quarter of 2015 will be approximately $6 billion with a loss of at least $300 million. Of course their stock should be higher.
J.C. Penney
- I found it humorous to see the Wall Street hucksters and their mainstream media mouthpieces cheering on the J.C. Penney 2nd quarter results as “better than expected” and proof they have turned the corner. Their overall sales went up by 2.7% and comp store sales went up by 4.1%, as they continue to close stores. For some perspective on this tremendous sales gain to $2.9 billion, their sales in the 2nd quarter of 2009 were $3.9 billion. When your sales are still 26% below where they were six years ago, maybe you shouldn’t be crowing too much.
- It seems Wall Street and the MSM didn’t really want to focus on the only thing that matters – profits. They lost another $138 million and have racked up $305 million of losses so far this year. They have lost money for 13 consecutive quarters. That is no easy feat. They have managed to lose $3.6 billion in the last four and a half years, while driving their annual sales from $18 billion to $12 billion.
- Their balance sheet isn’t as horrific as Sears’, but it is nothing to write home about. They have $6.2 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities, supported by a mere $1.6 billion of equity. Back in 2011 they had $5.5 billion of equity to support $4.9 billion of long term liabilities. The deterioration of this once proud retailer is clear to anyone with two eyes and a brain. So that eliminates all CNBC pundits and guests.
- Wall Street pumped the stock 5% higher on Friday to celebrate their $138 million loss. A company that is on track to lose $500 million has seen its stock price rise 32% this year on hopes and dreams. Wall Street has had buy ratings on this stock from its peak of $82 per share in 2007 on its 90% downward path to its current price. I’m sure they’re right this time.
The truly disturbing revelation from the Census Bureau data and the terrible financial results being reported by some of the biggest retailers in the world is that it is occurring with unemployment at 5.3%, the economy in the sixth year of a recovery, and a Fed who has pumped $3 trillion into the banking system while still keeping interest rates at 0%. What happens when we roll back into the next official recession, unemployment soars, and consumers really stop spending?
What is revealed when you look under the hood of this economic recovery is that it is a complete and utter fraud. The recovery is nothing but smoke and mirrors, buoyed by subprime auto debt, really subprime student loan debt, corporate stock buybacks, and Fed financed bubbles in stocks, real estate, and bonds. The four retailers listed above are nothing but zombies, kept alive by the Fed’s ZIRP and QE, as they stumble towards their ultimate deaths. The coming recession will be the knife through their skulls, putting them out of their misery.

“Retail chains are a fundamentally implausible economic structure if there’s a viable alternative. You combine the fixed cost of real estate with inventory, and it puts every retailer in a highly leveraged position. Few can survive a decline of 20 to 30 percent in revenues. It just doesn’t make any sense for all this stuff to sit on shelves.”
Marc Andreessen
- 226595 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


I go to retail stores to physically touch and feel an item. Then I go home and research it online and find the lowest prices .
Then order it,
Sales people hate that when you go to the store and act interetested in something , then tell them , thanks for the info. Bye Bye
That's exactly what I do. :-)
I like to do that too...At Victoria's Secret.
Sir! Please stop sniffing those. They're actually clean.
Gee, look at Macy's, breaking its 5 year uptrend and heading on down to the discount basement, and the gap at 47, for a 25% off special:
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=m&insttype=&freq=1&show=&time=9
What a great cartoon!
The only thing missing is the po po writing out a ticket.
Huge Christiana Mall in Newark, DE - directly adjacent to I-95 - serves Md, DE, PA and NJ areas - does a booming business. Zero sales tax in DE. One Mall in America is at least making money. So many smaller satellite stores have opened up all around the mall too. It's crazy over there!
We've played the ZIRP card, food stamp card, extended unemployment card, "disability" card, home loan principal reduction card, subprime loan card. Yet the retail customer is still struggling. Will the Subprime car loan bailout card do the trick?? I'm guessing it will be next. Short of a helocopter option, I don't know how many economic cards we have left to play.
There's no point of a credit score if they help any sap get a loan these days.
The idea that making it easier to get doesn't means it's affordable...
Macy’s lipped off about Trump. We’re boycotting Macy’s.
there goes the China recession too.
Don't expect it to improve when the tourist money stops flowing.
Malls are great for daily 1 hour power walking during winter and then two last laps around the food court and free food handouts makes for a nice winter afternoon
I'm fairly confident that if you looked at the peak of whatever economic period you please, you'd be able to find at least 4 grossly underperforming retailers.
Peddle this sophistry elsewhere.
With about 70% of this economy driven by retail sales, this isn't funny, nor are the sited retail operations minor ones. In fact they are just examples of what is happening to most on varying timelines. The chains mentioned are mid-range, middle class stores, but even the Dollar Stores are struggling, as witnessed by the sale of FDO and the battle between DOG and DLTR to acquire their customer base. FRED has been struggling for several years, too, with a murky future and the stock near 52 week lows.
When the dollar stores are suffering then you know things are bad. There are too many of them including Dollar General and Big Lots which is like a dollar store...i.e. shitty.
Dollar Tree has those good blue Persona (made in America) twin blade disposable. 8 for $1. I find the cost of razors from Schick and Gilette insane. My old Norelco is still going but the plug is shorting. High quality Dutch made electric razors that last forever.
Wake up you geniuses on Wall St. - America is no longer MALLvelous....No JOBS-No MONEY-No BUY....NO MALL...
Thank GOD! Shopping malls are useless gigantic blobs sucking up gallons and gallons and tons and tons of important energy just to keep a bunch of plastic bowls warm or cool or lit up so people can stagger on by and fondle them with their germ filled hands.
Please go away shopping malls, your not needed by anyone but the drug pushers anymore.
It's a "Winston Smith" economy.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
"No, no! That is definitely NOT the 'memory hole!'"
My local shopping mall doesn't allow concealed carry on their premises.
They can kiss my ass.
And they know your doing it How ?
Get ready for the next concealed-carry prohibition: CASH.
"The perp brandished a hundred dollar bill while retrieving his license. Our officer had no choice but to shoot him. We'll be keeping the hundred, and his car, though."
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
"See cash, say something--we'll give you some of what we take."
Retail has been my life for 45 years, and still is. 15 years ago, there were 16 people in our sales agency, we had almost 2500 accounts, a showroom in America's Mart downtown Atlanta, 6500 sq ft of office/warehouse/showroom space in our SC office, and 4 satellite offices in the SE.
Today, it's me, my partner, and our part-time, semi-retired office manager. We all work from home offices, and thank God I didn't renew the Showroom lease in 2008, because things really crashed in 2009. I was an original tenant when the Mart opened. Now, we focus on fewer than 50 accounts.
Wal-Mart & Big Box retail killed the the regional mass merchants, and the Catalog Showrooms are all gone. The Department Stores & Drug Chains were consolidated under a few major name plates. Mom & pops have simply gone through living business hell, as they struggled to survive under the crush of competition as giants relentlessly pursued every discoverable pocket of profit to capture for themselves. Dealing with the major chains has become incredibly difficult. It is almost impossible to avoid heavy charge backs and mystery deductions from payments. I won't even present a smaller vendor to a major retail account anymore. One mistake in a UPC code or Advanced Shipping Notice, and the fines could put them under.
The organization structures have become too complex to be managed by the talent level they employ, and all of these chains now have "professional management", which means the executives will plunder the companies for as long as they can before moving on. The families that built the businesses took them public and moved on.
I could write a book about the changes in retail since I started working in a Department Store in High School in 1964. It is harder now than ever, and will get even more so......but, it has been a fascinating, and largely fun Merry-Go-Round. Lot's of travel, crazy experiences, and great people. Plus, bringing new products to market and pioneering offers about as much personal freedom as anything I know of that will allow me to make a living.
The article is correct, however. Most of the malls, and the stores that anchor them, are doomed. I have good friends at both Sears and JCP (and many others), and worry for them, but have also lost track of all the hands I held as buyers were laid off in the bankruptcies and reorganizations over the past 2 decades. And having to let go people who worked for us for over 20 years was no fun, either.
On the other hand, change is exciting, and there is always a new widget to sell. It may be sold in a different way, but the game is still the same - I present, they decide.
A new mall that openened in 2009 sill has 5 vacant store slots. Never have been rented. Only 5 slots have been filled. About 2 will prbably close and they'll be 7 vacant slots.
Plenty of empty strip malls. What a recovery!
Excellent post 11b40.
+1
Great response. Yes it is called The Centralization of Everything. Even 1 world Govt is being attmepted. Economies of scale when there is no real growth. All that is left. I remember too representing a large manufacturer in the Mass merch/retail trade. We had thousands of representatives. Like you said Pharmacies are owned by chains now not independent pharmacist. Family mass merchandisers are gone and now all Large chain. Look who control Hardware, 2 entities. There are still some independents here under the ACE Co op. Used cars are Carmax and Auto nation. Centralization and Tech have massively reduced the need for people.
i see entire swaths of housing that haven't seen so much as a coat of paint in thirty years but that's the only indication of distress i see.
waited expectantly (and for decades) for the elusive silent xmas. finally back in the 1990s someone on television said: "never bet against the american consumer". for twenty years i have been a believer in that. until i see a serious xmas shopping season flop i refuse to believe those retail shoptards are completely tapped out.
they've been double-tapped
We've been malled to death
Malls was where the middle class shopped. The middle class is dead and not coming back.
All stores listed above were anchor stores for the malls and they will all die soon too.
Malls used to be a vital part of community. Teenagers socializing, working, dating. Young adults taking a simple stroll while nonchalantly shopping for this and that. Older adults enjoying a nice time out in a well lit and well stocked environment. The vibrancy of the food court and arcade. The hustle and bustle of the cineplex.
I remember us teens mingling and socializing with teens from other areas and schools because our mall was central to all of our communities.. Occasionally we would then go to the "other mall," that is the closest mall not ours, and be the "outsiders." That mall had a stupendous arcade--something to behold with ALL of the games.
When I got into computers, the mall had a few stores that carried accessories, books and all of the magazines. For those into model railroading, there was a store for that. And then there was the perennial Spencer's Gifts--separated the pervs from just the boys.
The demise of the mall is more than an indicator of the demise of the economy, but of the demise and destruction of our country and society.
Those guilty will pay.
Liberty is a demand.Tyranny is submission,
I loved the mall when I was a teenager. Then when I was old enough to work, I began to hate it!
+100
Thisis what I have been saying all along. Mals plus those anchor stores were for an American middle class that now longer exists and will never exist again at least in our lifetime.
One of the ZWO's goals is to make western countries more feral.
A subtle loss of civility, first unnoticeable, then one day, all too noticeable.
Online shopping = save gas by staying home. no tax. and usually can find lowest price and free delivery.
Why would anyone go to a store??
Who needs to go mill around a mall looking at trinkets and whatnot that you dont really need when you can just stay at home and get rich by buying the dips in the e-minis?
Then you can take the free money you got from the FED and buy stuff on Amazon, you dont need a job or even to leave your house if you dont want to, its a veritable utopia.
Thanks for the shorting ideas, Jim. In the long run, fundamentals are all that matters! I wonder what Jim 'TINA' Puplava is buying now?
I stopped listening to him years ago when he took the "markets and metals are not manipulated" stance. Sorry, but I don;t listen to folks who have a truth to lie mix in their reporting.
It is TAX FREE weekend here in MA. The store lots were not crowded and road traffic was no heavier than usual along shopping route. As we are on the RI border I was expecting more shoppers. It is 90 today so I guess the weather played a factor.
Although I utterly despise it I had to go to southern NH today to pick up a couple items I bought on Cragslist.
The traffic was bumper to bumper way north of Concord all the way south of Concord. I averaged about 5mph for an hour. All MA.ho's CT.ho's NY.ho's NJ.ho's going home, where they should stay. I don't go to those states on weekends why do they come here?
On the way back up north 2 hours later I noticed the south bound traffic still locked up for miles.
My personal moto was "Never go south of Concord, Ever!" But I'm thinking of changing it to, "Never go south of Franklin, Ever!"
Not trying to be a prick but Kohls does not have $330 billion in debt
don't worry. big corps will continue to hire h1b's and all the future good jobs will go to those who are not of european descent.
if you are an indian, they want you. if you are a whitey, they don't want you.
any questions?
If you're an American, they don't want you
I'm sure its not that bad. If you're willing to work for an Indian paycheck, you should do okay.
I wonder how much of that former retail spending is now going towards medical and prescription bills under Obamacare? God help anyone who's in Obamacare and has a serious medical condition. Few physicians participating, huge deductibles, and sparrse limits on costs for high-end medicines -- among many other problems.
I also went to a mall in MA today (tax holiday). Slight uptick in shoppers but the stores were likely disappointed.
Sears and KMart merger is like two drowning men clinging to each other all the way to the bottom. If JCP can hang in there until the Sears/Kmart dead stores go under they have a chance to last a few more years until showrooming does in all the weaklings.
I believed that service was what retail locations had to offer. I called Best Cry to order a 2 thousand dollar computer with the condition that they simply installed any software upgrades before I pick it up. I was willing to purchase on my credit card if they consented to this deal - The manager would not do this even if I also purchased a Geek Squad service agreement. His argument was that even with 2 weeks notice he would only recognize walk-ins on a first come first serve basis - since I live two hours away I was not willing to take two trips to meet his walk-in policy.
So I emailed him back and said bye bye Best Buy and bought on-line.
Most store managers do not care, - either by company policy or their lack of stake in the sales revenue. The Old owners standing guard on the cash register and the sales computer in their brains, are all gone.
"Most store managers do not care"
Ain't that the fucking truth. My wife, who recently got her first job in about 18 years (at Sams club), was bitching to me the other day about one of the idiot managers. Some dickhead walked into the store the other day with a PDA. Yea, a fucking PDA!! The dickhead wanted to return it for whatever bullshit reason he gave and the manager took it.
My wife was bitching because the employee bonuses are dependent upon how well the store does and this manager that takes ANYTHING and EVERYTHING back, is screwing them from getting bonuses.
+1
At least someone on here gets how retail works.
I miss Borders bookstore. But Barnes and Nobl knew how to "sell to the customer" better. And maybe the financial parts of their operation made more sense.
And I guess I'm old fashioned, but I liked to go and make my movie choices at Blockbuster. NETFLIX is no substitute, in my opinion.
Both those stores are now gone, along with Radio Shack.
And what do we have to show for it - LOTS of Nail Salons, "Cash Your Paycheck Now", massage parlors of all types, and 10 million personal trainers. And this is supposed to get America back on its feet?
"LOTS of Nail Salons, "Cash Your Paycheck Now", massage parlors of all types, and 10 million personal trainers. And this is supposed to get America back on its feet?"
The Wall Street service industries of the future. Not to mention the thousands of legalized Bernie Madoffs. Creditopia to the max.
I have a theory that there is a finite number of Nail Salons and that another one can't open unless one closes somewhere else.
Also closing in my area are numerous "cash for gold" stores. Either people have run out of gold to sell or the FED has put the word that gold is forever dead as an asset.
Best Borders location ever - corner of Pearson and Michigan Av in Chicago across from Watertower. Great place for coffee and staring out the window at the people scurrying about in the dreary weather. Good memories!
LET IT BE KNOWN as of December 1, 2014, under the court decision of August 25, 2014 that convicted the United States Corporation and their officers of fraud, extortion, human trafficking, involuntary servitude, murder, high treason, and crimes against humanity, all corporate governmental, judicial and enforcement powers and authority are revoked and nullified and all such personnel are hereby ordered to immediately STAND DOWN.
Any further corporate governmental intervention into any matter regarding any activity in any of the several states related to the Respublica of Earth, United States of America is now considered a Breach of the Peace.
LET IT BE FURTHER KNOWN that anyone disregarding this ORDER is considered personally liable for acts leading criminality against the People and faces immediate arrest and detainment by the Court of Ages, Earth District Natural Law Peace Officers deputized by the Court which includes all militia and National Guard.
http://www.courtofages.com/usa-orders.html
http://www.courtofages.com/intl-orders.html
http://www.courtofages.com/documents.html
People still go to malls? 13 years and counting since I've stepped into a mall. 'bout the closest thing I've been in resembling a mall is a row of stores....like 200FT long.
Mall- What is that? Sheesh shopping is a Hobby in the US. Maybe college courses can teach the younglings that to brainwash them into propping up the econ.
"Maybe college courses can teach the younglings that to brainwash them into propping up the econ."
They'll have to dump their student loans first. Bubble after bubble.
Wall Street banksters have already maxed out the student loan bubble and the subprime auto bubble. What's next?
Soooo many promises have been made for the future, that no future is now promised to most folks.
Those are the ones built for the poor, aka the Middle Class. On the hand, sales are going thru the roof in the ones for the rich, aka the haves.
Not really. Have you ever heard of the Palm Beach Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Country FL? LV, Chanel, Ferragamo, Gucci, etc. with Saks & Nordstrom as the better anchors. Is there ever anyone actually buying in these stores? NOPE!!! Lots of pedestrian "lookers" but very few buyers.
BTW, areas like Worth Avenue (designer boutiques in Palm Beach with Saks and Neimans to the East end of the Avenue) are hurting as well. I go to certain boutiques on the Avenue because I can have things tailored (I am unusually tall and slim) and for the past 5 years, except for foreign tourists, everyone else seems to just be "looking".
Are you saying QEs haven't work out as intended for the rich? Therefore, more QEs are needed.
'Anchor tenant' in Desert Cities CA malls means the gone-out-of-business (or moved) legacy big box loser whose absence is dragging the surviving tenants under water: CCI gone, ODP gone, BBY relocated to smaller space, Kroger and Albertson's groceries g-o-gone, and Sam's Club closed in 2012 after 4 years of operation, leaving the adjacent, empty-aisle WalMex looking like the other shoe waiting to drop.
I have hundreds of charts where breaking the buck was another 'death cross' for the stock, here for example, XRT achieving a 3-digit handle for 33 days, now back in the terrible twos, probably headed down 7% to 90 within a month, or sooner:
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=xrt&insttype=&freq=2&show=&time=13
What I am noticing now is that a number of out lots, and little strip malls across from malls and big box stores are flashing a lot of 'For Lease' signs. That is especially a worry since we are entering the stronger half of the year for retailers.
Seattles colorful BROADWAY st. used to be a very popular hangout for every niche you can imagine. Then building height restrictions were lifted. Now its a canyon of upscale condos, unaffordable chic street front shops, many of which have closed-or are pathetically empty of customers. Capitol Hill is dead-Seattle has decided to strip west Capitol Hill of ALL single family homes-ever historic beautiful restored homes-for single and multi family units-the street used to be crowded with gawkers and shoppers and hangout types. WE didnt get to vote on it. Our gay Mayor seems to be a Republican
No - we used to have a token libtard ni$$er mayor.
Than we had a couple of libtard mayors.
And what beats a libtard in Seattle or Portland?
Why a gay libtard mayor.
Next comes presumably a gay, trannie muzzie fundi libtard mayor.
All the while developers own the city gov. Remember the stadium referendum? We voted it down, but what the hell it became post facto 'non binding'
And our tunnel - I wager it will not be finished - ever - that land is now Gold Coast.
I'll be buying in Tacoma - fuck this corrupt King County doghole.
pervect time to revisit this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk
All this and the Government cunts IE New World Nazi's sit on $2+ Trillion in surplus tax collection receipts.
Not to mention the stupidity of those that build these malls!
Around here.........................one huge mall closes after decades because a new one opens up 5 miles away. Not it's not doing as well as thought, now someone else comes in and is planning on spending millions to redo the one that closed first.
Shit economy or not, retards aren't helping matters.
Shopping centers and strip malls will eventually revert back to what they used to be...farms and open land. We won't need big malls to shop anymore, mostly done online. But when everything blows up, people will need food and can grow their own.
Just some "slice of life" anecdotes.
I really can't even buy anything local anymore.
I exist in a commercial corridor of about 100,000. Two Walmarts. Two Targets (one Super). Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight in addition to Lowes, Costco, Home Depot, etc.
Can I find proper wattage CFL light bulbs for my kitchen? Nope.
Can I find a RJ45 crimper or 500 feet of CAT6a in the city limits? Nope.
Can I find a cut of beef that does not taste like moldy potato peelings? Nope.
I'm not asking for Harrods.
So the Internets is getting more and more of my business.
By example, my crippled mother can buy 24 rolls of toilet paper and have it shipped directly to her doorstep for 20% less than retail and avoid the hassle of shopping and hauling.
The other interesting point is that half of my Amazon purchases have come directly from China - no US distributor. Period.
The days of some Chinese brother-in-law of some Dongguo factory manager operating out of his furniture-less Arcadia mansion garage are over.
You can't even find people that know how to fix things either.
Deflation.
In commercial rents. In asset values. In household incomes.
Never mind all real inflation.
(Went to Olive Garden. 2 People. Wine. Desert. - $100 with tip - for a strip mall pedestrian t-shirt Saturday night. WTF?)
Globalization with a side car of US debt loads equals train wreck.
Dump those CFL's, LED are much nicer.
When CFLs burn out they leave a long-lasting odor that fully embodies the gestalt of carcinogenic.
your Saturday night sounds so romantic
If I can't go into a mall and buy 4 D20 die in a nice rawhide bag whats the point!
Globalization for the US has been the economic equivalent of 1000 nukes dropped on the nation. People still vote for globalists. Why? May their asses soon be handed to them in a chinese manufactured paper bag
As foretold by Gerald Celente back in '97 in Trends 2000... http://resources2.communityq.com/trends-predictions/ghost-malls.pdf
JC Penney is trying to spin the numbers on their same store sales as a good thing. Adjusted for inflation, the numbers are down, not up, and that's using the government's bogus low rate. In reality JCP sold less units not more. They took in more steadily depreciating US dol;lars.
Not much hope for them.
Conclusions of the author are correct but too optimistic in fact it is much worse. All the real estate has been concentrated to the extremes and is supported on continuous bailout by the FED.
Malls are empty, dollar stores crowded, houses are full of tenants in multigenerational family groups the thing unheard off now for about 80 years in US. People are getting poorer and poorer, inflation combined with income uncertainty grows exponentially while spending collapses.
An interesting take on the future of real US economy in context of FED empty utterances of recovery I found at:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/economy-update/
Here's an excerpt:
Soon there will be no purchasing of no new cars since we’ll have nowhere to go. There will be no purchasing of no new houses since we won’t sale the one we live in with relatives who have nowhere to go. There will be no purchasing of no new appliances since we won’t afford to use the ones we have. There will be no purchasing of no new hi-tech gadgets since we’ll have nobody to call or share. There will be no purchasing of no new TVs since nobody will want to be fed more illusions or listen to lies anymore. There will be no going to restaurants since we’ll have nothing to celebrate. There will be no going to schools since it will be nothing left to learn. There will be no going to churches since nothing will be left to believe in.
Ack! The double negatives...they burn!
There will be no going to churches since nothing will be left to believe in.
Hate to be an English maven/Nazi, but I think you mean "There will be no going to no churches since there isn't nothing will be left to believe in."
I went to a mall twice recently to visit JC Penny. It was a huge mall in a very big city. I was pretty much the only white person there and all the cashiers wore head scarves. There wasn't even a food court anymore. I still made out pretty well, spent $125, returned $50 of that but still was able to use $30 in rewards from the first purchase.
New TV show idea...
BLOW UP THE MALL!
Each week, a different mall in the USSA is ceremoniously blown up, with nostaglia and shit/weeping fat ass former mall employees waxing elequent about nonsense...as the fucking mall gets 9/11 demoed.
Townspeople - by vote....get to choose what shit goes on the fucking land next.
Could be a hit....
What a great idea! Big explosions always bring big ratings. However, it would be hard to stretch the explosive moment into a half-hour reality TV show. So let me offer some suggestions which will build suspense and offer episodes of thrilling entertainment before the big bang.
Wire the place with explosives, the more visible, the better, then fill it with stacks of cheap Chinese trinkets that would otherwise rot in a portside warehouse. Post large screen countdown monitors throughout the mall in prominent locations. Put a couple thousands shoppers, the fatter the better, outside the doors. Open them up and give them 22 minutes (which would allow for 8 minutes of commercials) to waddle into the mall, grab whatever they can, and then skurry back out, arms loaded with all sorts of shit, before the clock hits 0:00 and the place blows sky high. Be sure to have the shoppers sign waivers of liability beforehand. Conceal some bags of cash among the merchandise where the video cameras can show people fighting over them. Include some has-been celebrities among the shopping throng. Now that would be something I might watch. Entertainment on multiple levels. A melee for those of modest intelligence; an allegory for the more discerning.
And I like the idea of the vote. You could show the tally onscreen while rescue dogs sniffed through the rubble in the background. People love anything with dogs in it. But use electronic voting machines and eventually show the actual final vote as tabulated by the machines, then show the town fathers in some back room agreeing on how the final tally will be changed to reflect the land usage that will require the purchase of the surrounding parcels they had already acquired dirt cheap prior to the show.
Just by observation, I knew things were bad at Sears. I do not shop there, but use their rest room at different times on Saturdays. In the mall parking lot I sell at a farmers market every Saturday. I usually go to the Sears restroom a couple of times each Saturday. Regardless of the time I am in there, with the exception of a couple shoppers, mostly in the Optical department, the store is EMPTY. Every freaking time since May.
This is a well done article.
I should go get a pretzel before something bad happens.
Got one last weekend after going to a movie ... they're all gone but I got one of the last ones
Jim, another gloom and doom article...your are so knowledgeable on the macro level...any thoughts on publishing an article on your specific stock picks, especially the ones you "shorted",I bet you made millions....
I can remember like it was only yesterday......
Remember the good ol days whenn it was more profitable to build a new Mall, let it fail, claim a loss, and then build another one just accross the street because of Government Subsidies and corporate welfare.
Sadly, those days of the Great Mall building are over.
Their like Laptops, Nobody wants to buy a new laptop but the Box has already been opened, even if it's 1/3 off, they want the openening new box experience.
the 30 year old large mall in our city has been anchored by sears,pennys,dillards, and belks. sears went down last year. i hardly ever go in there but last visit there were lots of small time transient retail in there.
most commercial leases contain a clause about foot-traffic. if the foot-traffic falls below a number in the contract. the lease can be terminated. recently the mall gave a sweet heart deal to the dmv tag office, it is the only tag office in the entire county and has several hundred people go through on a daily basis.
i believe the mall cut the deal so that the foot traffic numbers would not trip the exit clause for the other tenants, smart but it just shows how desperate they are.
I shop at transientretail.com now .. the prices are lower than the transient retail outlets at the mall /s
Fortunately Australia will be fine, we are currently rotating our wealth generation from resources to real estate, pumped by millions of wealthy Chinese cash buyers who will keep government revenue pumped with stamp duty to replace the mining tax which we almost had.
The lucky country rocks on.
Going to the mall to buy shit you don’t need isn’t as much fun once your garage, attic, basement, and every spare closet in your house is already full of shit you don’t need.
And, selling it to people at garage sales to make room for more shit you don't need doesn’t work anymore either, because, their garage, attic, basement, and spare closets are already full of your old shit that they don’t need either.
They just all should get bigger houses. Rates are low, so go get 'em, quickly, it's a bargain and prices only go up up up...
/s
Why go to a big retailer or any of the cruddy smaller chains in a mall when you can buy everything you need online usually cheaper from Amazon or on Ebay. I hate malls. The people are disgusting, the staff are usually rude and unkept, and the prices are much higher than they are online. Then there is the smell of fried food from the food court wafting through the ventilation along with most malls being nothing more than hangouts for the local "hood" kids.
Malls are dead and their anchors are dead unless they close down all but their most profitable "brick and mortar" locales and do a much better job with their online sites. As for names like Sears and JCPenney's - these are eventually goners. Just because their crap costs less, people, after a while, stop buying their crap when they realize they can't even get minimum satisfactory use out of the cheap crap. Likewise, Sears has the worst customer service in the business. Has anyone ever tried to set up service for an appliance or lawnmower let alone hunt down an associate in the store who spoke some form of Earthbound language?
Shopping for shopping's sake has ended for the average person. Likewise, when people are working longer hours they prefer to have what they need ordered and delivered to them on their doorstep whenever possible to save their remaining precious time for those things they truly value in this life. Discount online presences for quality, necessary items will thrive through this decade; purveyors of dreck with large offline presences will fade away.
Malls are for women & young girls and a few other "types"; men do not like malls unless it has lots of tools; Craftsman!
Take a stroll down your local Eddie Lampert Craftsman isle (famously made in the USA for several generations) ...
It is all MADE IN CHINA now. Same price as before. The difference goes in that bitch's pocket.
Are you kidding? Making a case based on shopping at Macy's, Kohl's, Sears and Pennys? Huh? Who shops at those stores anyway?
We did at Sears today and got some very good bargains and better quality than "Dump-Mart".
I have shopped primarily at the Value Village for the past 8 years.
Everything that you could ever want is there. For a fraction of the "Retail Price." I picked up some Michael Kors jeans for $6.99. And I've sold and purchased many quality items on Craigs List.
Why do you think TPTB want to ban cash sales for used items? Cut this market, out. It is already the law in LA.
Where is this all going?
If we go cashless; what would that do to the BUSH-CLINTON family drug cartel? That is the real problem with cashless; you must be able to maintain black-markets for the globalists. Perhaps they can find a viable solution.
You're right.
It is just another thing to make "illegal." So that anyone can be arrested at any time for anything.This is just another "any thing."
The black market, System D, will always exist.
they are...it's called civil asset forfeiture
Bitcoin
I assume everyone here knows that by 2020 at the latest, out-of business malls will be converted to dwelling lofts and condominiums.
The selling features, besides the gorgeous interior walkways with their overlooks, skylights, fountains and escalators will be their security. With no windows to break into, and their sliding glass doors replaced with thick steel ones, maybe even a portcullis or two, Mallominiums will make gated communities look like gypsy encampments.
With huge 12 foot chain link fences with razor wire around the parking lots and armed guards, even the pussiest ZH poster will be comfortable buying one.
When you consider how much money will be saved on ssri alone, a buyer might make nice profit on one after a few years.
This is happening because USA economy STINKS! It is not happening because of sales on the internet. Shopping malls and retail stores are booming in Asia, despite the fact that our internet connections are better than that of USA.
Many people feel the effects, but the ones that make the decisions or those who make over 250K and are less affected do not really care. Until that group feels real pain, then we can expect more of the same. The only problem is that when those people do feel pain; it will be too late for most of us.
Yep where almost there...
Blame it all on Israel.
The Jews did it.
Not to defend the dinosaurs, but has these guy ever heard of Amazon or Ebay???
Yes for the future look (Apple, Amazon and a little about Macys) (and the morph of retail stores) see this guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCvwCcEP74Q
He says that there are only three things we do in business: Appeal to the mind, the heart, and the desire to propagate. As we move down the torso the margins get better.
All the economic lies have been very well documented for the record by ZH. Thanks!
With no buyers, malls to become haunted places
Turn them into Greenhouses....Soilent Greenhouses...Bitchez
Turn them into Greenhouses....Soilent Greenhouses...Bitchez
They need to open up all of these malls for zombie simulation paintball and airsoft games. Many people would get paid just to be dressed as zombies. It's for the children.
If you close the malls, where can thugs go hang out in their hoodies wearing their pants half way down their thighs waiting to pounce on the next buyer of a paid of Air Jordans?
Where will the thugs play?......Trump has an idea.
The last and only time I went to my local mall was to pick up silver rounds.
So when the next crunch happens (probably in October) instead of bailing out banks and enriching those .001% on their ill gotten gains why not bail everyone out instead. Take the $5T or whatever they print. Divide it up into the number of households in America. Send each houshold a cheque and a letter stating that all debt must be paid down first. After debt is paid down the rest can be saved or spent.
Bail out th 99.9999999% AND improve the bank's balance sheets at the same time. Best thing is that it would not be inflationary because there would be no money created because the debt would cancel out the vast majority of the increased currency created. Oh you would have to reinstate glass steagal to ensure that the criminals don't just recreate the whole shit show but then you have already rewarded your friends and taking away that bit of candy should be okay when you think that they would get to keep their heads because the unwashed would still live under the illusion that they were not slaves to the machine.
On second thought. Print the money, give it to the big banks, let the execs improve their unbelievable financial life and further impoverish everyone else. Then the unwashed will be so pissed off that 17th century france will look like a garden party.
Just a Credit Boom Burnout like everywhere else. Nothing left to mortgage. It is the same story in Greece, UK, Spain. Germany is headed the same way - not with credit cards which are in reality charge cards due in full each month - but mortgage credit and a housing boom based on soaring rents.
The real shops offer 36 months zero-interest credit, the department chains are up for sale - one sold to Hudson Bay of Canada; one to Italian group. Supplier credit stop driving others into the ground.
The Gini Coefficient looks different for Incomes from that for Debt.
It is clear we are headed to Secular Stagnation without the credit to cover up the fact as in the past
I could have gotten a job bussing tables for $15/hr, but I decided to hold out for $19/hr. I figured if the minimum wage is $15/hr, then I should be worth at least $19/hr. I am not a moron who works for minimum wage. I have intelligence and skills. If you have a job for me, I would like you to call me and leave a message. I will call you back as soon as it is convenient. My number is EBT EATCOCK (328-328-2625).
Amazon-NYT-Malls Dying? Not a ZH story?
How much of malls dying is not about Amazon?
How is the NYT expose on Amazon and working conditions (and H1B's between the lines) not a ZH story?
Is this place about #1 clicks or #2 critical news or #3 dick?
Only #3 could explain how the Amazon/NYT/H1B story is not ZH worthy.
Amazon's underbelly illustrates the future unless the banking mafia are stopped: one single step from slavery.
And the worst part is none of it is necessary - driving down wages and discretionary income is *causing* the deflationary spiral. The Quakers figured this out 150 years ago.
This is great for my dad. He is 74 y.o. and he is LOVES to shop. He shops every day almost. It's all "guy" stuff from Staples or Sears or Radio Shack or Home Depot or Goodwill or Michael's; there are coupons and loyalty cards and senior discounts; he buys and buys and buys. Yes, there is a full attic and a full basement and a full garage and a full storage unit in this picture. The employees in these places are paid by the hour and he is polite so I don't think they mind his bargains; they have a job that way; it's not like there are any other customers.
He had better stay healthy or southern New England retail is going to go down for good. My mom just tries to shovel the crap out the back door; gives it to the local poor person center; dreams of blow-torching it all. I guess I didn't get his genes since I haven't been in a mall in many years; owning stuff is just a pain.
When my dad goes to the great shopping mall in the sky, this chapter in the American economy will end.
Man, just think, with all of these malls closing, shops and department stores will come streaming back to downtown Detroit like the good, old days, right?
I love how the "business Darwinism" of Amazon guarantees the Darwin Darwinism reproductive failure of their wage slaves.
That is globalism in a nutshell. Adam Smith thought the minimum wage was the minimum that would allow a worker to reproduce but the banking mafia have been taking it a step further: let them reproduce in a slum somewhere else.
It would be clever if it worked - which it can't long-term because if none of the workers has any money to spend then you won't have an economy.
Just read the NYT article on Amazon. That is pretty sick. Indeed, that will lead to all sorts of mental and physical problems with people working there. It will be only a matter of time before somebody will go 'postal' there. And the moment they can, Amazon will replace their human bots with robots.
ZH NEW TIP! READ!
That Chinese warehouse that exploded with 700 tons of sodium cyanide? Guess (I know you knew) what it is used for? Per Google (inset box even):
In Australia, sodium cyanide is mainly used in the mining industry to recover gold from ore. For gold mining use in Australia, it is manufactured as solid briquettes, or provided in a liquid form containing approximately 30% NaCN.
Sodium cyanide FactSheet - NICNAS www.nicnas.gov.au/...National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assess.
Yeah Sodium Cyanide. It rang a bell but I could not place it. In Europe we call Sodium Natrium so after reading your post it became clear. Thanks. I wonder if the amount exploded will make a dent into gold extraction. If it does then......hmmmm...whatsup with that? China of course set another record adding gold to their holdings.
Btw, the stuff is highly toxic and dangerous to people, animals and the environment.
The amount "exploded"...not that exploded?
/s
I was thinking it was a message right after the Yuan devaluation, but who knows.
As I searched the subject it was amazing how long the MSM has been trying to hammer gold.
[Don't they know how malleable it is? OK, I just found my response to the oft-used "monkey-hammered" thread title when gold gets the CB treatment]
Now I need a mirror-label to Gold Bug that applies to baseless fiat termites [I know all fiat is by definition baseless].
I humbly apologise for making mistakes writing in the English language which is not my mother tongue. If you want I write in Dutch, Spanish, German and a little Serbian/Croatian.
Regarding gold, yes it gets hammered a lot by MSM. BI is allover it all the time (yes, I do read BI but just for laughs).
I hoped /s (sarcasm/kidding) would show I was kidding.
Exploded vs. that exploded suggested to me intentional vs. accidental.
I wondered about the /s tag indeed but I thought the remark was odd. Like a misuse of the /s tag to drive a point home. But ok, my bad then.
To me (but hey, I am not a native speaker so what do I know?) exploded vs. that exploded says nothing about intention or accident. But that is a good question. Perhaps a paranoid one (I am not stranger to that but just because you're paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you).
Again, the news of Sodium Cyanide caused a little itch on my brain that I couldn't scratch. Then -Eureka!- Natrium Cyanide --> gold --> China increasing its gold reserves. Things that make you go hmm...
Peace.
Faber says the wars of the present will rage with no one in the wider world aware they are occurring.
OPM hacking, stock markets offline, Chinese gold mining inputs just blowing up, weird SLBM contrail off LA on the day more QE is announced...
I thought the events of the last weeks involving hacking, glitches in stock market trading, the massive sell off of stocks in China, etc. etc. were really strange. Like a lot of things going on behind the scenes at the same time as part of some bigger conflict. It is a bit like a Bond movie but replace Spectre with alphabet agencies on either side doing dirty work for some invisible hands. But in an 'information society' where news goes so fast, nothing seems to stand out for the wider audience who is only interested in trans-gender TV realities anyway. If it wasn't so tragic, it is amusing to watch but this affects us all.
To further your English education:
The direct use of verb "the cyanide exploded" presumes that a 'subject' (the Chinese Gov't? Agent X? Jack Bauer?) initiated the explosion with some intent. "The US exploded a test A-bomb over Bikini atoll."
The passive use "the cyanide that exploded" assumes nothing about who caused the explosion (if anyone; maybe it was lightning).
The only thing I ever went into Sears for was CRAFTSMEN TOOLS (the high end ones).
Now that I have all my tools both SNAP-ON and Craftsmen, I see no need for Sears.
There was a time, probably 20+ years ago when Craftsmen tools were some of the best. Not sure about now, but probably just Chinese made crap.
Not all Chinese things are crap. They can make high end stuff .
Yes they can. But most of what appears on the shelves of American stores is not that stuff.
That's an interesting comment. I find that a fair amount of Chinese stuff for sale in the UK is reasonable quality ...TVs and other gizmos etc. On the other hand Chinese stuff I see on sale in Brazil is mostly crap.
There must be two types of Chinese goods.
Well, that may be so by I have seen a steady drop in quality in lots of stuff in electronics parts like IC's, passive components and such over the last 20 years. I have thrown away[because no one wants it] working equipment that for me was obsolete. Now I am lucky to see some of the same replacement equipment last its expected life cycle. I would have to agree that quality has gone down.
People can't shop anymore. Their garages are full... No, really. They can't even park their cars inside anymore.
What's there to cover.
Doctors, lawyers, frackers, small business owners, all work long hours, without the bonuses or parachutes.
IMO it wasn't so much of a "expose" as a recruiting meme. After all.
Amazon is hiring and has thousands of openings.
When I was a fracker in my younger days, there were many weeks that I was only off the clock less than 40 hours.
OH yea,
RICO all banksters, their political, bureacratic, judicial, and lamestream media whores, and 99,000 lawyers.