Retail Sales Not as Strong as Forecast
Retail sales during the holiday shopping season were not as strong as most forecasts had envisioned, which may foreshadow weaker consumer spending in 2012.
Most of the rhetoric coming from the macro economic media seemed to be pointing to a strong start to 2012. Fourth quarter 2011 numbers are expected to be solid, the employment numbers had been slowly and steadily improving, and things looked like they might take a significant step forward. But then the retail sales numbers through the holiday season weren't quite as rosy as many predicted. And the jobless claims jumped more than expected, even when accounting for the expected loss of all the holiday season jobs that come and go quickly each year.
And despite some mildly better news out of Europe, with both Spain and Italy's borrowing costs slightly lower in their most recent bond sale, the overall picture is again starting to muddle for the U.S. economy. We're already back to the debt ceiling and will have to legislate past it once again in the near future. That process could lead to more market angst and even another possible downgrade from the ratings agencies for U.S. debt.
With the economy now the exclusive focus of the GOP primary and the upcoming Presidential Election in 2012, the next few months are going to be crucial. Mitt Romney's track record as a businessman is now coming under heavy fire from his Republican rivals. And Ron Paul, who had been well on the fringe of previous GOP primaries, is now emerging as a contender based almost exclusively on his real-world, no-nonsense approach to fixing America's deteriorating economic structure. The early months of 2012 are going to tell us quite a bit about how things are likely to look in November and beyond.
And despite some mildly better news out of Europe, with both Spain and Italy's borrowing costs slightly lower in their most recent bond sale, the overall picture is again starting to muddle for the U.S. economy. We're already back to the debt ceiling and will have to legislate past it once again in the near future. That process could lead to more market angst and even another possible downgrade from the ratings agencies for U.S. debt.
With the economy now the exclusive focus of the GOP primary and the upcoming Presidential Election in 2012, the next few months are going to be crucial. Mitt Romney's track record as a businessman is now coming under heavy fire from his Republican rivals. And Ron Paul, who had been well on the fringe of previous GOP primaries, is now emerging as a contender based almost exclusively on his real-world, no-nonsense approach to fixing America's deteriorating economic structure. The early months of 2012 are going to tell us quite a bit about how things are likely to look in November and beyond.
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