Lolz At Americans

[TonyLeung]

black friday retail sales are up 8% more than last year. i guess Americans aren't too worried about their debt or low savings levels.

Edited November 24, 2007 by TonyLeung

[LaoPo]

black friday retail sales are up 8% more than last year. i guess Americans aren't too worried about their debt or low savings levels.

Hmmm..looks like it.

I wonder how much deeper they got into the red, assuming that most sales are paid with a creditcard.

"According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.

"This is a really strong number. ... You can't have a good season unless it starts well," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, citing strength across all regions. "It's very encouraging. When you look at September and October, shoppers weren't in the stores."

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8T4A18G0.htm

Amazing America !

LaoPo

[kdvsn]

black friday retail sales are up 8% more than last year. i guess Americans aren't too worried about their debt or low savings levels.

It is truly unbelievable that those people are so stupid that they don't know that their economy has collapsed and that they no longer have any buying power.

[johnnyk]

It's all on the never-never so of course they aren't worried, just like Alfred E. Neuman

They don't unnastan that their extremely low national savings rate is one of the root causes of their economic pickle.

Edited November 25, 2007 by johnnyk

[LaoPo]

It's all on the never-never so of course they aren't worried, just like Alfred E. Neuman

They don't unnastan that their extremely low national savings rate is one of the root causes of their economic pickle.

That's called: hitting the nail on the head.

But there's another side of the medal, one rarely read or hear about:

"Over 35 million Americans faced hunger in 2006"

Updated: 2007-11-15 10:41

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fncs/hunger.pdf

and

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-11...ent_6256562.htm

LaoPo

[PeaceBlondie]

If the world's largest national economy is collapsing, then those of us who live in a teensy tiny little economy (which is mismanaged in different ways) should run for shelter. But maybe there is no shelter. OTOH, maybe that economy is not collapsing. Maybe the savings rate as measured in the USA doesn't mean much. Maybe most people aren't trying to sell their American homes, but if they did, they'd make an 8% compounded annual profit on it (even more, considering the return on equity). The USA still has relatively low indexes of unemployment and inflation, relatively high levels of higher education and productivity. We needn't get excited about a one day event such as sales after Thanksgiving.

[jfchandler]

As an American who sold his home in L.A. and got out before the recent economic fall, I think it's hard to assume too much from the Thanksgiving shopping report.

Generally, in recent years, those are the days that U.S. stores offer some of their biggest discounts, trying to get people into shopping to start the Christmas season.

So, it may also mean simply that people, feeling the crunch of high gas prices and everything else, are keenly looking for bargains at what they perceive as the best time for sales, instead of waiting until later and spreading out their shopping during the broader season.

In the end, when the holiday season is done, I'd be amazed if overall U.S. holiday sales are up this year over last year. Nothing I've been reading of late from my former homes suggests that is likely. But..time will tell...

Hehehehe....sure glad I left when I did... Haven't bought a gallon of gas since I arrived in LOS... Thanks BTS.

John.

[sbk]

As there are already several threads running about the effects of the US economy on thailand I see no need for yet another one

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