if the economy is bad, why were there record sales last weekend??

We've already covered the fact that GW is closer to Obama than to any conservatives in government.

Besides, the recession was almost due in entirety to sub-prime mortgages and not "Dubya's" policies.

LoL.

 

Its easy to break a record when prices are ~20% higher than they were three years ago.

 

Black Friday "Dud": Retailers Heavily Dependent On Shopping Frenzy Day Saw Sales Drop

'The biggest takeaway from this report is that consumers traded down from traditional retailers to discounting ones... '

Also a big big jump in 'buy now pay later' as desperate Bidenomics victims struggle with falling real wages and living standards.

Even worse that Bribed Biden's really sucks the big one 2022 Black Friday flop.



Some retailers saw double digit drops.



'Bidenomics has been a complete and utter failure for the working poor.'

BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) will be a big hangover for folks with falling real wages and living standards.

 

But these are gifts, not necessities. Struggling people would be cutting back on the gifts. People aren't struggling. It's a strong economy.

 

Much of this is monthly revolving credit that gets paid. We don't use cash anymore.

 

Well, no matter what it's called, "monthly revolving credit" involves fees and interest, and the interest added to the amount of the goods perchased is very high indeed. But, you're mostly right about cash -- people don't use it very often because, for one thing, they don't have any. Instead, they have a 'deck' of credit cards.... The real problem emerges when all those credit card and charged balances aren't paid off every month before interest charges and any applicable fees are added.

. Good advice, even hundreds of years ago....

 

1. Prove its gifts
2. Polls asking americans how they are doing show otherwise

 

More good news about the economy.

ABC reports, "Shrugging off higher interest rates, America's consumers spent enough to help drive the economy to a brisk 5.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Wednesday in an upgrade from its previous estimate.

"The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 4.9% annual rate last quarter.

"Wednesday's second estimate of growth for the July-September quarter confirmed that the economy sharply accelerated from its 2.1% rate from April through June. It showed that the U.S. gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — grew at its fastest quarterly rate in nearly two years.

"Consumer spending, the lifeblood of the economy, rose at a 3.6% annual rate from July through September — still healthy but a downgrade from the previous estimate of 4%. Private investment surged at a 10.5% annual pace, including a 6.2% increase in housing investment, which defied higher mortgage rates.

"The U.S. economy, the world's largest, has proved resilient even as the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times since March 2022 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Those higher interest rates have significantly increased consumer and business borrowing costs. But they have also helped ease inflationary pressures: Consumer prices rose 3.2% last month from 12 months earlier, a marked improvement from the 9.1% year-over-year inflation recorded in June 2022.

"The U.S. job market is cooling from the red-hot levels of the past two years. But it's still healthy by historical standards: Employers are adding an average of 239,000 jobs a month this year. And the unemployment rate has come in below 4% for 21 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s."

According to Gallup, only 32% of Americans approve of our President's handling of the economy. Beats me what they are complaining about.

 

Beginning about the end of March 2024, when all the credit card bills from "the holidays" finally hit the bottom line, it's very likely you'll find out what all those people "are complaining about". The tragedy is that they were too stupid to avoid plunging even deeper into debt than they already were.

Hint: Americans' credit card debt has now already hit $1.08 TRILLION DOLLARS. And remember, that's only all the crap that's been charged on credit cards! Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/cre...1point08-trillion-record-how-we-got-here.html

 

The economy isn't bad. In fact, it has some pretty strong growth.

But the OP story is about online sales, still a growing trend in shopping.
As brick and mortar see less traffic.
...
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter as businesses built more warehouses and accumulated machinery equipment, but momentum appears to have since waned as higher borrowing costs curb hiring and spending.

The growth pace, which was the quickest in nearly two years, however, likely exaggerated the health of the economy last quarter. When measured from the income side, economic activity increased at a moderate pace. Nevertheless, the report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday indicated the economy continued to grow despite fears of a recession that have persisted since late 2022.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-third-quarter-economic-growth-revised-up-52-2023-11-29/

 

So, they spend. Keep the economy strong.
But complain about the economy.
Disconnect?

 

People who pay their balance monthly don't pay interest. What was purchased with cash is now purchased with revolving accounts. This is only a portion, but it inflates the total if not recognized.

I pay my two cards every month. I get 1-2% cash back, so the incentive is to use the card. This shows up as credit card debt but it's just an alternative to cash for many.

 

Silly question.

Spending data disagrees with the polls. I'll stick to the data.

 

Well that and people tend to be irrational spenders. They are conditioned for it by advertisers.

 

lol asking you to prove your wild claims is a silly question?

Oh lawdy you funny.

 

Christmas shopping doesn't need to be explained to most of us.

 

How predictable. Completely unable to back up your argument. Another day another dollar , hollar!

 

I'm in 100% agreement with you. I pay off my own two credit card balances every month and honestly cannot remember the last time I have had to pay any interest charges or 'late fees', but it must surely be decades.

It's not 'rocket-science', and I'd hope that we were all taught when we were children that if you buy more 'stuff' than you can pay for, you're going to make a trainwreck out of your life. But maybe a lot of people don't 'get' that....

. "Dude! I'll just hit the lottery and it'll all be COOL!"

 

having a Costco credit card I had a little over $300 bucks in bonus money that must be used before years end
the ole "use it or lose it"

I am traveling through the holidays so I figured today I would go down and buy a few items, maybe a steak or pair of shoes
then get a few bucks back in cash for walk around money ..

I have been to the warehouse several times...I knew it would be a little more crowded than usual..but it is a warehouse and has a HUGE parking lot

I never even parked...the parking lot was FULL...drivers were following people walking out of the store just to get the parking spot

so tell me again there is a bad economy...

Costco is not like the other warehouse stores..they sell better quality items. but it is more expensive

I am still amazed to see people sitting in the gas line at costco waiting to save 3 or 4 cents a gallon

they can spend a $100K on a Mercedes and need to save .60 cents on a 20 gallon fill up

 

That is an indication of how bad the economy is. They are buying on credit and with the inflation, everything costs more. They are saving everywhere they can. I suspect very few of those people in those gas lines were driving $100k Mercedes.

 

if they are saving everywhere they can why are they shopping at Costco??

wal-mart , sams club . and BJ's are all cheaper

ok I exaggerated...all were not Mercedes...there were lexus's and hondas , I noticed a land rover and more than one new looking Denali's or Tahoe's .not a single car was old

and I did not see an old car in the parking lot ..next time you are stuck in traffic look around

most cars are less than 5 years old ..despite a car now can last 10+ years thanks to fuel injection

I say those that claim the ecomony is bad are just whiners and losers

 

You just explained why they are shopping at Costco.
"ok I exaggerated...all were not Mercedes...there were lexus's and hondas , I noticed a land rover and more than one new looking Denali's or Tahoe's .not a single car was old and I did not see an old car in the parking lot ."

This was a higher end crowd. I get a kick of the democrats. They are saying that those that are struggling in an economy where the price of goods is 20% higher than they were a few years ago, really don't know what they are talking about.

For many, their wages have not caught up. When 70% of the citizens say the economy is getting worse, not better, it is because they are getting hit hard in the pocketbook.

 

The primary reason of course is credit cards.