November 27, 2006

If holiday shopping got off to a "big bang" as some lazy MSM reported, why are retailers getting killed today?


Every year, the lazy MSM writes reports the day after Thanksgiving weekend about how great things are, how there were big long lines at the malls, and how retail sales were "above expectations"

Then the true numbers come in.

Well, same arc today, with lazy reports like this one in the Tribune.

Retailers got what they wanted over the Thanksgiving weekend -- a strong start to the 2006 holiday shopping season as consumers crowded stores in search of huge discounts on flat-screen TVs and other hot items.

But then the real numbers come in

Stocks Fall on Wal-Mart Sales Report
Wall Street suffered a sharp pullback Monday as investors returned from the Thanksgiving weekend with questions about the strength of the retail sector following a rare sales decline at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Dow Jones industrials fell 150 points.


"There is now significant concern that the holiday retail season is going to underperform," said Gregory Miller, chief economist at SunTrust Banks. "Traffic doesn't necessarily translate into profits," he said, referring to reports of crowded stores over the weekend.

Almost like the housing bubble and Iraq - cheerleading followed by reality

Why does the MSM do it? One, they're lazy. Two, who are the MSM's big advertisers? You got it - the retailers. Just kissing the feet, doing their job.

16 comments:

Bill said...

I think that big bang theory, was more physiological than actual...more of a firecracker IE: Ladyfinger...No one in my family even stepped out the door, and we are a family of 12, no shopping here. And I suspect the retards standing in line at 4 am are just that retards, and the MSM is their cheerleader.

Roccman said...

The coming housing collapse:

http://tinyurl.com/y5gh8p


"I am convinced that the housing bubble is gigantic and will burst before long with massive implications here and abroad. In fact, it's the key to the global economic outlook."

Anonymous said...

predicted last week to see a 2% sell off or better in US markets today...as the retail sales figures were all bogus to begin with as they have been for years.

Anonymous said...

Joey,

I like your style!

DimSum with a side of schadenfreude.

Anonymous said...

the MSM doesn't know the difference between sales and profits

hilarious

Anonymous said...

I saw the CEO of what used to be yellow Trucking (now a conglomerate) on CNBC last week. He noted a slowdown in shipping as a leading indicator. There was some pinhead portfolio manager that argued the size of items shipped was much smaller i.e., a truck full of I Pods. I was just amazed at the level of BS coming out of this pumped up fool, the I Pod comment was right out of the NAR playbook.

It's pretty much game over for wealth building, it's now wealth preservation time

Anonymous said...

SALES DO NOT EQUAL PROFITS

Anonymous said...

Nasdaq down 2% the first trading day after Black Friday. That is not a good sign for all those thousands of oxymoron stock analysts who've been touting tech the last couple months.

Anonymous said...

I eat things.

Anonymous said...

What do you think is the best investment now ? Gold Stocks ? or physical gold bars :)? Just plain ol' CD's ?

Anonymous said...

Foreign currencies. Any from a country that exports.

Blogger said...

I saw a lot of big dollar TV's being bought, but they were all at the 30-40% off sales price...

Anonymous said...

O.k., I confess. I did go shopping on Black Friday.

Drove to Home Depot and bought 8 bags of steer manure. Gave them $7.92 + tax, to count towards their holiday season sales.

It's an annual ritual - spread it on the ornamental garden beds in front of the house every fall, on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday indeed!
-Mammoth

Anonymous said...

Mammoth, do you really expect us to believe that bullsh_t story?

Anonymous said...

The malls where I live (South Hills of Pittsburgh) are like they are any other time during the year. Looks like business as usual. I don't see the crowds.

Blogger said...

This is outrageous, I bought a big screen TV at Circuit City on Saturday for $2,399, which was on sale from $3,299. Today, I stopped in there and Best Buy had cut the price on the exact TV down $200. Circuit City turned around and cut the price $200 below Best Buy. Bottom line, I got a refund of $462 today. They can't be making money like this...