Weak Holiday Shopping Season Worse Than Expected

AP:

An already weak holiday shopping season turned out to be even worse than expected for many of the nation's retailers, who reported Thursday they had disappointing sales results for December. The poor performance raised more concerns about consumer spending, and in turn, the health of the economy.

The weak results came from across all retail categories, and prompted many stores to lower their fourth-quarter earnings forecasts. Particularly hard hit were apparel sellers including Limited Brands Inc. and AnnTaylor Stores Corp., as well as department stores including Macy's Inc. Among the few bright spots was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which posted results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, as it benefited from shoppers trading down to cheaper stores amid higher gas prices and a slumping housing market.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[olephart]

"The poor performance raised more concerns about consumer spending, and in turn, the health of the economy."

I know there is a lot of pain and suffering from the declining economy but my pain comes in a different form. You see, if Christmas spending were viewed as Patriotic, my wife would have the Medal of Honor. In fact, the people in the Province of Guangdong worship her as the Goddess of full employment.

[ohiomark]

Wow, great news for the Democrats.

What's bad for America is good for Democrats.

[MACS]

Just one more demonstration of the GREAT bush economy.


ROFLMFAO

[MilwaukeeDan]

Next "shopping season", Wa-Mart will offer valet parking for the formerly wealthy moving down the economic ladder. This will give them the "soft landing" Greenspan was always talking about.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I spent a big 60 bucks on christmas. Hey, hey, BIG spender, me!

LOL

[MsJoanne]

What's saddest is that people went to Wal-Mart in droves because of cost.

Alas, more money to China and a company that doesn't even pay its fair share of taxes to the states where they do business.

Screw Wal-Mart. I'll pay the few bucks more when I do decide to make purchases. And I will try to support local business more.

I wonder how the highest high end stores did. I didn't see numbers for them. But I expect them to be proof of the rich vs. the rest of us.

[Gary47]

They deserve it. Most retail stores are full of vastly over-priced often cheaply made products; many lack style and punch. With a little research and energy one can find better products at better prices in many different places - the internet, vintage and resale shops, local merchants and markets, etc.

[Justinpassing]

Weak Government and fiscal policy worse than expected.

[January]

Try a headline like, "Consumers reduce conspicuous consumption levels: Good for global cooling".

Yeah, I know, the job cuts don't help. So we'll have to figure out something to do besides sell our crap to each other. Maybe something like, teach kids or play with the handicapped or build settlement houses for neglected urban areas.

Yeah, I know, the rich paying a fair share will mean more moving their money offshore. Don't you think it's about time we began to deal with that? If big cities can deal with their mini version, there are solutions, too, at the national level.

Nothing is wrong with a cooling economy because it offers an opportunity to readjust our priorities. We've agreed now for a long, long time that our priorities are out of whack. Gutless politicians don't want to offend their donors, so nothing gets done.

If it takes a train wreck to get something done, full speed ahead.

[ErnestineBass]

What does 2008 have in store for the American banking system if the consumers driving America's consumer-based economy stop consuming?

http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Business&articleid=a1197897965

Interesting take on what happened to Russia's banking system a decade ago, written by an "everyday Russian Joe".

[studlyguy]

2008 is going to be to put it bluntly the year the s**t hits the fan and there is no escape route out of it

[FightingTheRight]

Worse than expected by who??!!!

[godlessclif]

I think the compound interest formula is finally sinking in. A credit card is an exponential highway to bankruptcy.

At 18 percent [only 1 1/2 percent a month]
debt doubles every four years. Carry $100 dollars debt on your card for 40 years and you pay the credit card company $100,000. An amount of money you could retire on.

well, you could retire in Guatamala.

[DCMike]

It's insulting to the middle and lower class consumers that anyone would expect that Holiday sales would be good. America should just stop pretending that we all live in the same world. You know, down in the lower ranks, anyone who missed the obvious so badly would be fired. Why not just start dividing everything by class? There could be a separate economy, media, government, and justice system for the Lords and Serfs. We're practically there anyway so it wouldn't be such a big deal. It would just make it a little easier if we knew the rules up front. We also wouldn't have to be bothered wasting time and money for things like elections.

[RobertaInCT]

With credit cards maxed out prior to the holiday season, how can they spend what they don't have? Many are cash poor, have little or no savings, in fear of losing their homes andor jobs. Again, how can they spend what they don't have.....