Be Afraid! Spend! "Consumer confidence is surging" Spend! Be Afraid!

[Human Torch]

Data suggests strong holiday sales for retailers
Shoppers spent slightly less in Sept., but consumer confidence is surging



Updated: 2 hours, 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Bolstered by falling gasoline prices, consumers headed back to the malls to shop in September. And with confidence rebounding sharply this month, strong sales are forecast for the all-important holiday period.

Overall, retail sales fell by 0.4 percent in September, the Commerce Department reported Friday. But that decline was skewed by the good news that gasoline prices plummeted last month, sending sales at service stations down by a record 9.3 percent.

Excluding service stations, retail sales posted a solid increase of 0.6 percent, the government said, as consumers used the money they saved on gasoline to spend on other items.

“Households continue to empty their wallets at a very rapid pace,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors, a private forecasting firm. A second report Friday showed that consumer confidence, which had been depressed by surging gasoline prices, posted a strong rebound in October.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15247915/

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. My wife and I were talking today

and were discussing the the neo-cons and their attempt at making OUR america into a have-havenot society.
She said that they need the middle class because of their buying power and the need for them to be plyable consumers. My contention is that they dont need US as consumers at all. They just need consumers and thats why the growth of the global economy is so important to them.
What would make them supremely happy is for the average american to be a low paid worker bee, lorded over by the aristocracy (them). They can sell it (the products we produce) anywhere in the world. It works so well for them. Pay us little, offer us no benefits, sell it worldwide and finally, reap the profits.
Middle Class america just doesnt fit into this plan.

Oh, and they dont have to pay taxes on any of this because the company is listed as an offshore entity.:puke:

[WePurrsevere]

2. “Households continue to empty their wallets at a very rapid pace,” Amazing

how that happens when you income is the nearly the same or less then even basic needs cost.

We and many others I've spoken with sure aren't spending more because gas/oil prices are down. We know they'll go back up and are dreading it since up here there are many who heat their homes with oil, propane or natural gas. The only thing we've been and will e spending more money on is more insulation/winterizing stuff, heating fuel and trying to get the oil part of the furnace to run just one more Winter. ::sigh::