Will the consumer spend at Christmas? In fact, Halloween is not even here, not even Thanksgiving, but retailers and retail analysts are already projecting a gloomy Christmas. Real estate equity is non-existent for many Americans and even if you keep all your cash; the US dollar is falling.
Things are tough and consumers have no confidence at all, they feel betrayed and they are worried, and now we wonder if they will bring it out at Christmas and, if so, will retailers be able to survive? It’s a scary time for the retail industry these days.
With news headlines reminding us every minute of the day that the stock market has crashed, one can only think that consumer confidence has plunged into a wormhole that has ripped open within the crater of the world’s deepest volcano. Just consider a few of these headlines invading our text messaging cell phones and unread incoming email lists;
- USATODAY.com Breaking News; NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks tumbled in the final minutes of trading on Thursday, causing the Dow Jones industrialists to drop more than 600 points to their lowest level in five years. The Dow Jones fell more than 660 points, or 7.2%, to around 8,586 in late trading. Blue chips had not fallen below the 9,000 level since August. 6, 2003. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 74.73, or 7.6%, to 910.12 at the end of
- (AP) Dow Drops More than 600 pts.; Road to fear in financial markets on Thursday, turning a relatively stable day into a defeat that pushed the industrial Dow Jones below 9,000 for the first time in five years.
- NYT; The financial crisis spreads to Europe and Asia; The growing crisis has underscored the difficulty of undertaking concerted action in Europe because its economies are much more integrated than its governance structures.
Many leading economists are very concerned that the retail sector is the next calamity in this economic slaughterhouse, and while some are optimistic, those few do not appear to be consumers. Consider all of this.
