Anemic consumer spending

Good morning folks!

First, I am so glad to see momentum picking up on the blog.  Thank you to all of the new readers for your comments.  I hope that you continue to enjoy this blog and are able to use it to make better, more actionable investment decisions.

Second, to today’s post…

Yesterday the U.S. Commerce Department reported that consumer spending was up a meager 0.2% for the month of September.

Analysis: This report is disappointing to say the least.  The U.S. consumer is clearly still scared by the employment and economic situation.  But who could blame them?  For the month of September the Commerce Department also reported that personal incomes actually shrank by 0.1%.  Much of the reason for this decline, in the aggregate, is the expiration of long-term unemployment benefits.

In reference to the seemingly endless “game of chicken” that I have been describing forever, consumers are not showing any interest to break free of their “duck-and-cover” mindset.  But for personal incomes to have gone down in September means that U.S. businesses are not helping out either.  Sigh!

After today’s big mid-term election results my prediction is that we will have a more gridlocked legislature than before with even less getting done.  So it will likely continue to be a slooooooooow grind off the recessionary bottom.

Importance grade: 9; more data = more proof of a negative consumer vs. business vortex.  Despite my boredom in reporting this news, and probably your boredom in reading it, this news remains important.

Jason