So the stock exchange went down on the "revelation" that December Retail Sales were down

[nadinbrzezinski]

WOW... They discovered that water actually boils at 212 F or 100 C... my fucking lord... I could have told them that... GAS PRICES and FOOD PRICES are up... even if they do not count those in the official inflation numbers! What were they thinking?

Oh never mind, we are talking of folks who live in some kind of fantasy land... meanwhile here in reality land.. I can't afford to spend as I used to... I have to eat... and insert luxury product here, is mostly non-edible

[flashl]

1. Things must be going swell for a comte to recommend 40 cent Fed tax gasoline increase. n/t

[TomInTib]

2. I remember you predicting this back in November...

when the retailers were singing What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

[Warpy]

3. I predicted this would be the last credit card Christmas

but that we'd start to see vacant stores starting in January.

Christmas spending was down, but not nearly absent. I have been seeing vacant stores.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. I'm not sure how much of a credit card christmas this was

I suspect it wasn't even there

[Warpy]

6. If it hadn't been there

strip malls all over the country would be showing "Going out of Business" signs in the windows of at least a third of their stores.

As it is, there are places around here that have closed up shop quietly and gone into that long night of recession.

There was enough of a credit card Christmas to keep most places open, but barely. Next year won't be nearly as good.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I don't expect the economy to reach in any descent form

by next christmas...

Yep, gloom and doom here.. but I expect that brick wall to hit FAST and HARD very soon, relatively soon

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Well, it wasn't a hard prediction to make

but quite frankly I am not surprised