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Ignore The Media Bullsh!t - Retail Implosion Proves We Are In Recession

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

Here we go again. The dying legacy media will continue to support the status quo, who provide their dwindling advertising revenue, by papering over the truth with platitudes, lies, and misinformation. I have been detailing the long slow death of retail in America for the last few years. The data and facts are unequivocal. Therefore, the establishment and their media mouthpieces need to suppress the truth.

They spin every terrible report in the most positive way possible. They blame lousy retail results on the weather. They blame them on calendar effects. They blame them on gasoline sales plunging. That one is funny, because we heard for months that retail spending would surge because people had more money in their pockets from the huge decline in gasoline prices.

September retail sales were grudgingly reported by the Census Bureau yesterday morning and they were absolutely dreadful. This followed an atrocious August report. The MSM couldn’t blame it on snow, cold, flooding, drought, or even swarms of locusts. So they just buried the story in their small print headlines. The propaganda media machine had nothing. They continue to spew the drivel about a 5.1% unemployment rate as a reflection of a booming jobs market. If we really have a booming jobs market, we would have a booming retail sector. The stagnant retail market reveals the jobs data to be fraudulent. The 94 million people supposedly not in the job market can’t buy shit with their good looks.

 

Despite the storyline about consumer austerity being the reason for sluggish spending, the facts prove otherwise. Consumer spending accounted for 68% of GDP in 2008 at the peak. Seven years later it still represents 68% of GDP. The difference is the spending has shifted dramatically towards services since the Wall Street created financial crisis. Spending on services has grown by 31% versus 20% for goods since 2008. Guess what has caused that surge?

OBAMACARE

Spending on healthcare has skyrocketed for the average person. Rent, taxes, utilities and educational expenses have all exploded higher. Meanwhile, real median household incomes are 7% lower than they were in 2008. They are 7% lower than they were in 2000 and equal to the level of 1989. And the bubble headed bimbos on CNBC can’t understand why retail sales aren’t booming? Did they get their journalism degrees from the University of Phoenix or Trump University?

 

Let’s dig into the data for some shits and giggles. First off, you need to realize how bad it really is when you consider US automakers are essentially giving away vehicles to anyone who can fog a mirror, as long as they are willing to obligate themselves into never ending debt enslavement. The average amount financed of $27,000 and the average length of loan of 65 months are both record highs. As the automakers get more desperate by the day, 7 year 0% loans are now becoming the norm. Dealer incentives in the thousands proliferate. And subprime auto loans now constitute over 20% of all sales. The pace of subprime auto loans has more than doubled the pace of prime loans since 2010.

 

The Fed, Treasury and Wall Street decided auto sales would be the tonic to cure our economic ills, so they opened up the debt floodgate to get everyone and anyone into a new vehicle. They needed booming auto sales to provide the appearance of economic recovery. So, while overall consumer expenditures increased by 21% since 2010, auto loan debt grew by an astounding 41%. An this is just the debt side of the equation.

Over 27% of all vehicle “sales” are actually leases. Calling a three year rental a car sale stretches the concept of sale to the limits. Anyone who finances a car over seven years or leases a car, can never escape the chains of monthly payment debt. They will always be underwater, just the way Wall Street likes it. The proof these “strong” auto sales are just another debt based scheme are the non-existent profits of automakers and stock prices at 2010 levels. If auto sales are so healthy why would GM stock be down 18% since 2013 and Ford stock down 14% in the last year?

If you strip out the debt financed auto bonanza, retail sales are pitiful on a monthly and annual basis. I thought the later Labor Day was the reason for poor August sales. Maybe kids didn’t go back to school this year. The categories with NEGATIVE monthly sales was immense: Electronics & appliances (what about that housing boom), Building materials & garden equipment, Food & beverage, Gasoline stations, General Merchandise (Wal-Mart), Misc stores, Nonstore (Amazon). Overall, retail sales excluding autos was down 0.3% over the prior month. August sales were down 0.1% over July. The news just gets worse and worse as the government reports lower and lower unemployment. A fascinating dichotomy.

The annual and year to date figures are even more disturbing. The annualized and year to date numbers show 0.8% to 1.2% increases. If you believe your government that there is no inflation (Social Security recipients will get a 0% increase in their benefits next year – should do wonders for retail sales), then those pitiful increases are valid. If you live in the real world where your costs to live are going up by 5% or more, real retail sales are negative. The way to figure out who is lying is to look at the profits of retailers. They are plunging, so shockingly the government is lying about inflation.

Retail sales have missed the expectations of highly paid Wall Street economists 7 out of the last 10 months and 10 out of the last 15 months. But they guarantee sales will be strong next month. Maybe they should double seasonally adjust retail sales like they did GDP because it gets cold in the winter. How could the retail sales be so pitiful when the unemployment rate has fallen from 8.9% to 5.1% over the same time frame? Maybe someone could ask Obama at his next press conference.

 

The fact of the matter is that year over year retail sales at these levels only happen during recessions. It’s really that simple. Without the crutch of subprime auto loans and student loan debt being spent by pretend University of Phoenix students on iGadgets, fitbits, hookers and blow, this economy would already be in free fall.

Look no further than what happened to Wal-Mart today for confirmation we are in the midst of a worldwide recession, if not depression. Their stock fell by 10%, the largest one day loss in their history as a public company. Their stock is down 30% this year.

 

Make no mistake about it, Wal-Mart is a global retailer whose annual sales dwarf the GDP of most of the countries on the planet. They announced flat revenue for the current year and slashed next year’s earnings expectations by 12%. As usual, they blame external factors for their failures. The strong dollar seems to be the excuse de jour among the multi-national corporations who rule the globe. If they didn’t want to deal with currency risk, they shouldn’t have gone global. It’s a cost of doing business, not an excuse.

I found it amusing that Marketwatch had their headline as Wal-Mart to Buyback $20 Billion of Stock, rather than reporting that Wal-Mart’s profits are crashing by billions. The propaganda machine just doing their job. Every clueless highly educated CEO of floundering corporate behemoths follows the exact same game plan. Borrow money as your profits are in decline to buyback your stock near record highs to give the appearance that EPS is growing. If you can’t make profits, fake them. At least the executives will get their million dollar bonuses while announcing more layoffs. That always delights Wall Street.

All economic indicators are flashing red and warning of recession. Retail sales, that account for two thirds of economic activity, are falling. Corporate profits are plunging. Middle class Americans haven’t seen their household income rise since 1989. The last two employment reports were horrific. The number of  job layoff announcements by corporations is up 36% year to date and has already exceeded the total for 2014.

The only people who refuse to acknowledge recession reality are the Wall Street hucksters, looking to fleece a few more muppets before their party is over. They’ve created a short covering rally, despite the awful economic news, ridiculously high valuations, record levels of margin debt, and a public who left the markets years ago. Rigging the markets, utilizing free money from the Fed, producing fake profits through government sanctioned accounting fraud and using high frequency trading machines to manipulate the market can only get you so far.

Propaganda and lies can’t stop this recession. The Fed never took their foot off the gas, so we are headed for the cliff at 100 miles per hour. I wonder what happens next.

 

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Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:40 | 6671519 world_debt_slave
world_debt_slave's picture

from panic to depression, from depression to recession

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:49 | 6671555 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

Surely the cadillac generates enough lift to float safely to the ground.  No?

What we need now is a really good 5 year plan.  /s

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:14 | 6671661 TuPhat
TuPhat's picture

The cadillac is not falling.  It's pulling the earth towards it.  The economy isn't falling, it's just sucking up the bottom of the pit.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:31 | 6671720 gaoptimize
gaoptimize's picture

An understanding of the true nature of gravity, that mass curves space, reveals that the car is undergoing no (far less) vertical acceleration than when it was sitting on Earth, being pushed up by the ground against the curvature of space at about 9.8m/sec2.  The driver and passenger, for a brief moment, will feel the weightlessness/no acceleration of following their world line.  There is no pull on or between the Earth or Car, just curvature, until...

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:28 | 6671976 jbvtme
jbvtme's picture

there's some pretty tasty journalism...

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:46 | 6672396 FaxuXe
FaxuXe's picture

The economy is thirsty! It needs Brawndo!

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 16:40 | 6672669 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Is the car approching the ground because of gravity, or is it responding to a perterbation in time?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:51 | 6671563 pods
pods's picture

What if we never look down?  Seems that is when gravity take effect.

-The Coyote

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:34 | 6671732 Temporalist
Temporalist's picture

"I never studied law." -Bugs Bunny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PzY_ro13UE

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:40 | 6671767 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Every morning I go out looking up in the sky for my heliocopter money and everyday I'm disappointed.  I did get an opt-out ObummerCare tax though I didn't even wish for one.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:51 | 6671822 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

The US economy has become a cargo-cult.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 18:36 | 6673120 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Ya just have to find the right vine in order to get the coconut-shell earphones to receive signals from yer painted-rock radio! :>D

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:36 | 6672019 MadVladtheconquerer
MadVladtheconquerer's picture

There is NO gravity!  The earth sucks.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:57 | 6672437 JuliaS
JuliaS's picture

Bob and float, bob and float. Ignore all considerations of your own weight and simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:56 | 6671578 BullyBearish
BullyBearish's picture

On "RampaThon" days like this, whatever you do, don't buy the bag...

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:00 | 6671597 junction
junction's picture

The ads on the nightly network news show how bad the U.S. economy is.  What I see is that the drug industry, Big Pharma companies, buys the most ads.  There are ads for Cialis, for Prevnar pneumonia vaccine, for Chantix and for NSAIDs.  Pacific Life insurance company is an outlier advertiser.  There are almost no ads from car companies, who used to be a major advertiser on these news shows up to ten years ago, as I recall.  The reason for these drug ads is that most of the viewers are over 60 years old.  For millenials, why watch the nightly news after you come home from work when you don't have a job?  And why watch news in the English language if you don't speak English and don't want to learn English.  There is no solution, the NWO runs this country.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:26 | 6671691 Omen IV
Omen IV's picture

For whatever reason - since i dont pay attention to ads - i noticed that Pharma ads were almost every ad i saw as i was switching channels

must be category that has lower ad rates and the others have been squeezed out since no follow thru for purchase of consumer goods

so many things seem pressured in the coverage - the deomocratic debate with sanders getting high response in polls but media promoting clinton non stop - like they are scared you wont hear them - the reasons getting sillier -

 

 

 

 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:35 | 6671738 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

As a general rule, after watching a commercial, I tell myself "Never buy that.  Ever!"

A company that spends money on advertising is not spending it on quality.  They believe they can charge a 'brand premium'.  This is esp. true for beer companies!

Then there are the borderline escort commercials, getting closer and closer to just showing hardcore porn in between 'programming'.   Flash some titties on the screen, then "Cialis - talk to your doctor".

IMO, we have a sick society.  And when people catch on, or get an inkling something is wrong, they are told to see their doctor, who does NOT think the problem is a sick society, because of course the problem is on the individual level!  So they are told the problem is with them!  They must be 'depressed' (not society's fault, of course) and thus must go on ANTI-DEPRESSANTS.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 16:50 | 6672702 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

"This is esp. true for beer companies!"

The irony being that "Big Beer" sells for $3/pint, and is losing customers to smaller less well known micro-brew that are selling for north of 4/pint. As if they were all absent the day their MBA factories taught Branding 101.

You forgot to mention cell phone adds. We need bright shiny iThingys.

Fri, 10/16/2015 - 00:34 | 6674060 Syrran
Syrran's picture

The upvote, downvote arrows are uniquely not functioning for your comment (at least for this user on this computer).

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:31 | 6671995 doctor10
doctor10's picture

The drug ads? 

Its what is "costs" to keep the likes of 60 Minutes off their neck about their pricing policies.

 

Haven't yet met a human that actually woke up WANTING to try the next delectable offering from Johnson and Johnson....

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:36 | 6671747 doctor10
doctor10's picture

All america's "disposable" income is getting sucked into the derivative morass created the last 15 years by the banks and insurance companies? 

Why does your health insuranc epremium AND deductible rise by 250%?  Because the "premium" (a tax poayment according to Chief Justice John Roberts BTW) is going to backstop the insurance company's derivative exposure. 

Sort of a "back door bailout" Congress created

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:23 | 6671956 Salah
Salah's picture

Rush Limbaugh just gave ZH a double big radio-plug on this article in particular

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 16:25 | 6672610 assistedliving
assistedliving's picture

"US automakers are essentially giving away vehicles to anyone who can fog a mirror, as long as they are willing to obligate themselves into never ending debt enslavement"

anecdotal but my small co. just got a SECOND LEVY for some non-existent employee we never heard of.  They want me to dunn his non-existent salary to the tune of $28k.

Had to bank notarize our co. letter insisting we never employed this sap and return to Marshall registered mail.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 17:45 | 6672923 Buck Johnson
Buck Johnson's picture

When I heard what happened to walmart I knew that we where in trouble.  They are the biggest retailer on the planet and the way they go tells what the others retailers are having issues with.  You see the other ones don't have the ability as much to get stuff as low of a price as walmart and if  they are having trouble then the other retailers are dying.

 

 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:45 | 6671532 carbonmutant
carbonmutant's picture

CNBC is the band on the Titanic...

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:53 | 6671572 813kml
813kml's picture

Keep them away from the lifeboats.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:46 | 6671536 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

Never came out of the last recession, it's just that even the free money window dressing which made things LOOK better is falling down now.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:47 | 6671544 Snarf
Snarf's picture

Yes, this is all true.  So, buy stocks.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:48 | 6671547 csmith
csmith's picture

Free money for cars actually makes sense, because repo is now cheap and instantaneous via disabling the vehicle remotely and simply going to pick it up. Of course, this will lead to a gigantic glut of used cars, but that comes later.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:04 | 6671613 seek
seek's picture

The glut is fixed with another broken-window-fallacy cash for clunkers move. That program all but destoryed the "good" used car market and the ecosystem around it. It's just now starting to recover but I have no doubt they'll pull the same stunt again if GM 2.0 requests it, and they will.

This is why subprime auto lending skyrocketed in the used market as well. Poor people used to be able to afford used cars, but C4C pretty much forced a price increase on them by taking out a layer in the pricing stack.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:48 | 6671550 SILVERGEDDON
SILVERGEDDON's picture

Feral dog. It's what's for dinner. Before it eats you. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:48 | 6671551 Kaiser Sousa
Kaiser Sousa's picture

must .....keep....Dow.....above.....17,000..............

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:49 | 6671556 ajkreider
ajkreider's picture

Retail sales are supposed to say something about the economy, because people buying less means less economic activity.  But people aren't buying less.  They're buying more gas than ever.  They're just paying less for it.  And since far and away the biggest hit to sales is gasoline stations sales, the number doesn't tell us a damn thing.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:33 | 6671723 tarsubil
tarsubil's picture

WTF? So people have more money from savings with gas and spend less overall? And that doesn't sound bad to you?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:55 | 6671837 ajkreider
ajkreider's picture

You tell me.  Say I used to spend $10 on chocolate from Belgium, and then I find it on sale for $9 because of the strong dollar.  And I buy a Hershey bar for 50 cents, and save the rest.  Is that a sign of a weakening economy?  (Hint: no!).

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:52 | 6672113 Implied Violins
Implied Violins's picture

Eventually if that keeps up, Willy Wonka has to fire all his munchkins. WTF will you eat then?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 18:39 | 6673134 espirit
espirit's picture

Munchkins.

It's what's for dinner.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:59 | 6672458 ali-ali-al-qomfri
ali-ali-al-qomfri's picture

not a good comparison completely opposite quality spectrum;

Belgian chocolates; premium indgredients, creamy, tasty, top quality

vs

Hersey chocolates; HFCS, more Sugar and binders so it won't melt

 

not a sign of weakening economy but......

it is the sign of an indiscriminate, if not barbaric, palate

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:49 | 6671557 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Big retailers like Sears and JCP are holding on by their fingernails and praying for a great Christmes, but it ain't gonna happen. The shake out is going to be huge and even Wall St. won't be able to hide the giant, steaming turd and no way for start ups to replace them since financial reg's and rules are stacked against them. Underground economics will take over and "fuck the government" will be their battlecry.....

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:16 | 6671660 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

B&M stores in my area are already displaying nice cotton blend $60 sweaters for $10 !

It's not even Halloween yet and the weather is still in the 90's every day!!

A "bloodbath" the store manager says. And worse yet, he says there hundreds of boxes of new sweater inventory "in the back" ! I tried to 'splain to him it's all part of Barry's green shoots, recovery and "Legacy" but he was too depressed to listen.

I suggested he switch jobs into the drone manufacturing sector where there seems to be a bright future.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:55 | 6672126 Implied Violins
Implied Violins's picture

Tell him to make infrared-proof Gillie suits. Bet there'd be a market for those. Hell, *I'd* buy one.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:53 | 6671828 Falling Down
Falling Down's picture

+1

The record player started slowing down last October, at the end of QE3.

Time for some sick companies to get wrung out of this shit show of an economy.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:51 | 6671564 FreeShitter
FreeShitter's picture

This is what makes great depressions so great.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:51 | 6671565 Gatos Locos
Gatos Locos's picture

I'm gonna go break a window to help the economy.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:57 | 6671587 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

I'm gonna break wind and help it smell better.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:13 | 6671652 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

I'm going to break all the banks and help the ZOMBIES.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:01 | 6671598 MadVladtheconquerer
MadVladtheconquerer's picture

Rock n roll!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbjFbGwsXak

When Black Friday comes; I'll stand down by the door;

And catch the grey men when they dive from the 14th floor;

When Black Friday comes, I'll collect everything I'm owed;

And before the Bernanke finds out I'll be on the road;

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:03 | 6671604 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

Actually, we are going over the cliff at 200 miles per hour because I personally tuned the engine, and I put a blower on it, plus I added nitrous oxide, MSD, a cool can, and an STP sticker for added perception of speed.

 

 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:07 | 6671618 MansaMusa
MansaMusa's picture

I'm going long on eighths of kush, I'll need some serious weed when this shit-show really takes off !

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:11 | 6671638 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

BC Bud = 'serious weed', MM.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:37 | 6671749 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

Al ZHers are welcome in BC.

You will be required to finish this sentence though, to gain admission as a card-carrying ZH member:

"Gold, ____ez"

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:08 | 6671620 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

I'm typing this from a food court in a Mall in New Jersey. First I am just returning an item my wife bough online ... Second the place looks run down and broken ....... Third I already passed 3 close stores and that was just being on one floor so far. And finally the place is a ghost town. .... No joke. Dead.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:28 | 6671698 Bay Area Guy
Bay Area Guy's picture

The mall near us has a great way to hide the number of closed stores. They play musical chairs with the tenants. That way, while a storefront is being renovated, the store moving into it occupies another storefront. At present, there are four or five storefronts where that's happening. Even with that, seasonal stores like Spirit of Halloween, Harry & David and the Calendar Store are needs to prop up occupancy rates. The only store that ever seems to have more than mall employees in it is the Apple Store. It makes for a great place to walk the dog on cold mornings.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:30 | 6671715 Osmium
Osmium's picture

"Second the place looks run down and broken ....... "

Well, to be fair, you ARE in New Jersey.  

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 17:37 | 6672887 ceilidh_trail
Thu, 10/15/2015 - 17:58 | 6672966 Savvy
Savvy's picture

One shopping mall in my little town (big box taking over) there's a payday lender  a staples, a workwear store that's moving out and a furniture store. They're turning all the empty stores into a retirement complex. Truly.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:35 | 6671626 Neochrome
Neochrome's picture

Retail sales have missed the expectations of highly paid Wall Street economists 7 out of the last 10 months and 10 out of the last 15 months.

Wall Street BS in, MSM BS out...

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:10 | 6671630 hcho3
hcho3's picture

Next year is an election year. We cannot have a stock market crash during an election year. Yellen will resist it until November of 2016. Let the crash come in 2017. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:12 | 6671647 venturen
venturen's picture

strung up 2018

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:56 | 6671841 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

Helicopter money by April.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:12 | 6671644 venturen
venturen's picture

Break up the criminal mega banks should free up some cash for the actual people of America

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:56 | 6671844 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

Never happen utterly impossible.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:12 | 6671646 Postal
Postal's picture

Hookers and blow? Damn, and I actually spent my student loan money getting a computer science degree.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:14 | 6671657 BillVille
BillVille's picture

I'm in the furniture business and everyone in this industry is going Ga Ga over the numbers....BUT the numbers are attributed to RTO....RENT TO OWN/LEASE.

That's why Rent-A-Center & Aarons....et all, are growing at double digits, while Mom & Pops and many manufacturers are going Bankrupt.....AND guess who owns the furniture part of the RTO business....Ashley Furniture and that's one reason they keep posting high single/double digit growth too....

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:17 | 6671664 E.F. Mutton
E.F. Mutton's picture

The Gubmint/Media complex sounds a lot like a (paraphrased) Colonel Poge from Full Metal Jacket:

"Son, all I've ever asked of my sheep is that they believe my bullshit as they would the word of God - how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?"

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:21 | 6671679 Phillyguy
Phillyguy's picture

The entire US economy relies on Gimmicks. Keep car sales high with subprime auto loans. Boost asset (stocks, real estate) prices with $ trillions transferred from working people to Wall St Banks. Anytime the stock market drops, Central banks around the world step in to jack prices up. Indeed, the BOJ is largest buyer of shares on the Nikkei. The government and the 1% regard the average working person as little more than an ATM who pays for bank bailouts (QE) and expensive wars around the world. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:22 | 6671682 Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga's picture

It's the best time to buy a car now! Get a car before you are priced out forever. Retire rich! They don't make anymore cars. Cars never go down.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:57 | 6671852 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

And you can deduct the loan interest from your taxes.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:25 | 6671688 Puchica
Puchica's picture

I was shopping for my niece yesterday, so I went to the Toys R' Us. Place was so empty I could hear the air conditioners and the farts from the employees. Right next to the store is a Wal-Mart. The parking was packed like sardines. EBT wins.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:26 | 6671692 taopraxis
taopraxis's picture

My discretionary expenditures for the past month were exactly zero...

Shopping is long over for me. I have not seen the inside of a mall in years. I used to blame the zero return on my savings but that is not the reason. I have money, just no desire for the vast majority of goods and services on offer.

 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:28 | 6671700 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

By holding rates near zero for this long, the Fed thought this would stimulate spending. But the demographics of aging Boomers is to take less risk - and with low rates on savings, Boomers have to save even more money (as they cannot count on interest). Thus the Fed is stimulating the need for Boomers to cut back on spending - effectively to recession levels!

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:30 | 6671709 CosmicDebris
CosmicDebris's picture

My favorite hush hush subject (by the media and TPTB) is that of food prices. I'm sure some douche will chime in here and tell me that the numbers spewed all over us are all true and that food pruces have not risen an ungodly amount in just the last 5 years alone. Screw you in advance. Go watch your favorite anchorwoman bimbo for the rest of the day.

Anyone with half a brain cell left knows just how much food prices are eating into the wallet of the average American, much less other countries. And of course this affects retail sales. 

The latest PS4-only and XBOX-only games sales this xmas ought to be fun to watch...if they give us accurate numbers, that is.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:10 | 6671897 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

My favorite talking head was Rudi Bakhtiar.  I believe she was working on a fateful day back in September, 2001.  But alas, she is not a talking head any more these days.

She was so beautiful you almost believed the bullshit!

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:31 | 6671721 devo
devo's picture

Why wouldn't wall st just call a spade a spade, short the market, and profit off everyone's bullishness?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:17 | 6671930 BiPolarFrenchman
BiPolarFrenchman's picture

Cause they killed the host this time.  

No one's in the market to fleece, so big losses becomes a zero sum game between the parasites.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:51 | 6672108 devo
devo's picture

But Wall St is 90% Goldman. So Goldman goes short, wipes out every other firm and hedgie, hands out bonuses, and Joe Sixpack doesn't care since he hasn't owned stocks in a decade.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:33 | 6671724 Slowdrip
Slowdrip's picture

Wonderful retail numbers in the Hamptons, never better....

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:36 | 6671745 Pinefox
Pinefox's picture

Besides commentary about the obvious macro economic issues affecting retail sales, I never hear any comments about the junky quality of so much of the merchandise jamming the racks.  I have money to spend and have walked out of Macy's and Nordstrom's numerous times without making a purchase.  The fabrics,  colors, and designs are cheap and ugly.  I live in Seattle, the weather is cool now yet the racks are full of sleevless or short sleeved clothes made of tissue paper thin fabric full of spandex. Other custormers were like me, searching the racks, feeling the fabric, pulling out something to look at and hanging it back on the rack & leaving without a purchase.  Stores are full of junk no one wants to buy. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:42 | 6671773 ToSoft4Truth
ToSoft4Truth's picture

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday.

One of those Muslims women suited up in the black garb with just the eye-slit was shopping near by.  That freaked me out.  I left.  I don’t need it. 

Though, I am considering buying one of those suits and walking around all concealed. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:44 | 6671777 Cortez
Cortez's picture

Clothing stores have nothing but insanely thin fabric that rips when you fart or point to the drone in the sky. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 17:59 | 6672973 plane jain
plane jain's picture

And menswear is generally better quality than what is sold to women. Even that has decreased in quality.

I know because I started shopping the men's department for tee shirts because I don't want to wear 2 or 3 at a time to achieve opacity.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:11 | 6671879 White Mountains
White Mountains's picture

If you manufacture stuff you know why: Americans WILL NOT buy quality.  A few will but most won't - they go straight for the cheapest price.  And that means chaper quality almost always because it costs more to make good stuff.

Bottom line is you either make high quality stuff that doesn't sell or you make cheap crap that might sell as long as someone else isn't making it even cheaper.  It's a race down the toilet to the point where your finding see-through shirts and flimsy everything.  The consumer did it to themselves via their purchasing decisions.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:08 | 6672198 MoHillbilly
MoHillbilly's picture

Truth. I have a supplier that made a particularly high quailty part number. It cost more and as the cheaper stuff really started to come in it cost a lot more. They finally stopped production of it, my rep told me they could source that from someone else and still sell it cheaper than they could make it.

People like to talk quality, but when comes time to buy it's all about price

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:38 | 6671756 ToSoft4Truth
ToSoft4Truth's picture

I don’t need to toss this TV for a thinner model.

I want cloned.. things.  Open a mall Kiosk where I drop off DNA and come back in a month for my replacement pet or person.    OR, the DNA from some cute trollop met at the bar...
 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:39 | 6671760 Cortez
Cortez's picture

It is almost time for the constant barrage of messages about how the Christmas shopping season is expected to be better than ever.  This will be followed by stories about the appropriate amount to spend on a gift is no less than a $100 per person or some shit.  Then they will have stories about how you can charge your Christmas spending and pay it off by March using your regular income or some shit. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:44 | 6671780 ToSoft4Truth
ToSoft4Truth's picture

X-ians bitch if their deity isn’t exploited.  No-win.   

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:40 | 6671768 Trucker Glock
Trucker Glock's picture

I was watching Nazi Mega Weapons on Nutflix last night.  The .gov, Fed, and media propoganda regarding the economy came to mind when the show was describing the all's well propoganda the Nazi party was feeding the people of Berlin.  Meanwhile, there were 1 million Russian troops 30 km away.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 13:55 | 6671839 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

TARGET Corp. got fucking hammered yesterday. WHile layoffs at headquarters continue. In fact, headquaters is in termoil. Nobody knows what the fuck is going on, what the new leaders want, most haven't a clue what to do when they arrive at work. Seems Target has a lot more pain ahead. Though myself, I like their stores, and I like shpooing there. I'm not sure why they are in trouble other than the consumer really is fucking on the ropes! Look, wages are actually going down adjusted for real infaltion. I know of Nobody in my middle class circle who has MORE money to spend now than last year, or the year before. Those who so spend, do it on credit.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:13 | 6671914 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

What the hell is shpooing?  Wait, never mind!  Forget I asked!  Dirty bastard!

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 20:11 | 6673419 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

Me doing my retard typing. Haven't you noticed I am famous for bloopers like that?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:20 | 6672266 MoHillbilly
MoHillbilly's picture

That kinda hurts the popular narrative that Wal-Mart is suffering because they only sell junk, people hate them and they killed the baby Jesus

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 18:04 | 6672999 plane jain
plane jain's picture

At least Target hustles to liquidate slow moving merchandise. They discount fairly agressively and move product through the clearance process quickly.

I've seen aisles, and sometimes entire sections, at Wal-mart stores crammed with a mish mash of mixed up merchandise with no clear signage and markdowns sometimes less than 10% off the original price.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:08 | 6671890 Seal
Seal's picture

We are creating our own reality now. These pesky economic statistics mean nothing. 

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 14:32 | 6672001 Ghost of Robotrader
Ghost of Robotrader's picture

Lol you can only pull so much future demand to the present with shaky credit until everyone' s house is stuffed to the rafters with shit and demand goes down.  I am curious about the Xmas season. 2 percent year over year gains?

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:19 | 6672255 novelator
novelator's picture

They can't admit we're in a recession because that would leave no other word but depression for when the economy really hits the shitter.

 

They are reserving the word recession for now.

 

They did this in 2008-9. Until their lord obama declared the recession over.

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 15:49 | 6672293 daFrog7714
daFrog7714's picture

Mr. Jim Quinn --- One of the BEST articles I have read on this subject and the pervasive lies at multiple levels produced by Big Corporations, US Government, Corrupt Polititians, Lobbyist for Special Interest Groups,  Federal Reserve in Partnerhip with Big Banks and Wall Street --- this country does need a Complete Overhaul --- at ALL LEVELS!

In my opinion, the only observation you left out is what OBAMA CARE is about to do to the US Economy:  

Medical Insurance Rates are already Increasing dramatically this year.  2016 it is prredicted that Medical Insurance Rates will Rise by 50% +/- Average... The same will be Repeated in 2017, etc., etc...  OBAMA CARE will take More Money Out of the US Economy --- Retail Sales will dramatically fall further on a Month by Month Basis... Game Over....

Capitalism is Good if it is Not Manipulated by Everyone in The Room --- The Average Citizen Investor has No Clue how he is being USED!

Possible Solution(s):

1) Outlaw ALL High Frequency Trading, Period!

2) Outlaw ALL Margin Account Trading, Period!

3) Outlaw ALL Sub-Prime Lending because it is creating a New DEBT Can to be "Kicked Down The Road" along with QE"....

4) OBAMA CARE should be completely Overhauled into a Universal Medi-Care Program --- YES, YES... A Single Payer Program!

5) OBAMA CARE - Insurance Companies should be Allowed to Cross State Lines IMMEDIATELY and the result would be significantly less Medical Premium Costs becasue of Free and Un-restricted Insurance Rate Pricing --- Open Compitition and Not State Protection of Local Medical Health Care Insurance Providers ---- Both Sanders and Trump are Correct on this subject...

6) OBAMA CARE - Universal Medi-Care Paper Work should be Consolidated Into ONE ELECTRONIC FORM System that will Cover ALL Aspects of Medical Insurance and Medical Care at the Hospital and Physician Level.  The current Paper Work Form System wastes at least 25% in the Administration of Overall Health Care... Plus, the Physicians in the field at Ground Level could practice much more Medical Care instead of filling out Complicated Paper Forms that could be consolidated into one Unified Electronic System.

a) There has to be a way to resolve OBAMA CARE Mess!!!  330,000,000 US Population should have Universal Health Care in some form that will not destroy this country.  I do not believe that the US Population really understands how serious that OBAMA CARE, in its current form, will Financially Destroy this Country!!!

7) The IRS Tax Code must be scrapped and a New Form of VAT, Consumption Tax, Flat Tax that must be created IMMEDIATELY...

a) It is No Secret that the current Tax Code favors the Top 1% and the Lower Strata of this Country and the Middle Class Pays the Bulk of Taxes...  The Tax Code needs immediate revision to make it fair for everyone...

b) Plus, the US cannot even Service the US DEBT with out Printing Money (QE 1, 2, 3, Taper and Soon QE-4 $5 TT Today!!!) or continuing to raise the Debt Limit beyond $18.5 TT for which, under the current structure, we have No Choice but to continue borrowing just to keep the Lights On....

c) The IRS Tax Code provides that domestic US Corporations & International US Corporations pay 35% Taxes (The Highest in the World!!!)

d) Multiple US Corporations, doing business Internationally,  like APPLE and many, many others keep their Excess Profits Overseas (Tax Free) in the likes of IRELAND and Other Tax Friendly Country(s)... The Corporate Tax Rates need to be Reduced Immediately so that these funds can be brough back into the US without Penalty.  It is not APPLE's (and others) Fault either... Congress, the President, the Federal Reserve, Big Banks and Wall Street, COLLECTIVELY, wrote and Approved the Current Tax Code and APPLE, and others, simply Followed the Law!!!  Is ANYONE in Washington AWAKE!!!

8) US DEBT:  If we do not take Drastic Measures to resolve the US DEBTS the US Will Lose its RESERVE CURRENCY STATUS and our Paper Fiat Money WILL BE WORTHLESS Internationally --- WW III will then be a Real Possibility...

Your comments are welcome....

Thu, 10/15/2015 - 18:20 | 6673054 plane jain
plane jain's picture

Well you are passionate, but you seem confused.

On #1, #2, and #3 rather than outlaw it a better idea might be to simply make it unprofitable.

#4, #5, #6 and #a, Obamacare is a hot mess...blank check to the health insurers with mandate and no real competition. So, either we need to go in for single payer/Medicare for All, OR we need a real market where individuals choose their own carrier, preferrably from a broad field of providers. If we stay with an open market then to transition either employers start directly giving their employees what they have been spending on health insurance (employer portion), or those funds go into a pre-tax/tax sheltered vehicle that can only be used to pay for healthcare expenses, insurance or otherwise at the employee's discretion.

#7 A consumption tax tends to decrease consumption, not the best idea at the moment. Also a flat consumption tax is regressive as those who have less need to spend a larger percentage of their income on consumption of basic needs. That contradicts #7a. #7b seems like it should be with #8. #7c and #7d, yes, we should encourage businesses to stay in the US and to invest here.

#8 Well, I think that ship may have already sailed. See currency swap agreements between many BRICs and the current drama playing out in the middle east with the balance of power swinging to Russia and China.

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