Over the last 5 years, over 20% of the initial gains in Retail Sales have been 'removed' by serial downward revisions in later months.
For over 65% of the time, a 'good' number prints, stocks rally, the everything-is-awesome meme is confirmed, and then a month later (or more) retail sales data is downwardly revised.
[3]
35 downward revisions and 19 upward (and 8 of last 9 downward) for an aggregate spread between initial data and revised of over 5 percentage points (of a 25% gain).
[4]
It is all too easy to point the finger at China's 'manufactured' data, but perhaps some reflection on the home truths in America is worthwhile.
Charts: Bloomberg
