Category Archives: CONSUMER

US CONSUMER INCOME, SPENDING REMAIN WEAK IN JULY

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Personal Income and Personal Disposable Income both increased 0.2 percent in July.Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 0.4 percent.  Personal Income and PDI are both up 3.0% YoY as comps are somewhat easier. Transfer receipts, up 7.6% YoY, remain supportive. Consumer … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, RETAILING, US consumer, US economy, USA retailing | Leave a comment
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Posted on August 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Trichet Cites High Debt as Biggest Threat to Recovery Permanent reductions in government deficits and public spending are needed to reduce borrowing costs and stimulate private demand, the European Bank president said. Borrowing by Euro Zone Companies Falls 1.3% The … Continue reading →

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Posted in CONSUMER, EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, MANUFACTURING, US Employment, US housing | Leave a comment

CHINA TO TAKE MEASURES TO BOOST DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), has proposed a quick launch of reforms in income distribution to curb the widening wealth gap in the country. (…) The research report proposes increasing the proportion of both residents’ incomes and … Continue reading →

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Posted in CONSUMER, China consumer, China economy, ECONOMY | Leave a comment

Chinese Urban Women Catch Shopping Fever, Survey Finds

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Urban Chinese women are spending more and saving less as they poured 63 percent of their incomes into consumer goods ranging from clothes to cosmetics last year, a poll has found. Also, women saved only 24 percent of their incomes … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, CONSUMER, China consumer, China economy, China retailing | Leave a comment

US WEEKLY CHAIN STORE SALES DECLINE AGAIN

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Chain store sales declined 0.4% last week (Aug. 21), the fifth consecutive decline. Sales are down 1.9% since the end of July. The back-to-school season looks pretty weak, a very, very bad sign for Christmas.

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, RETAILING, US consumer, US economy, USA retailing | Leave a comment

China may introduce stimulus to boost imports

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

China has developed ways to increase imports such as the cancellation of quotas and will implement more as early as September, the National Business Daily reported, citing an unidentified official at the Ministry of Commerce. (…) Now is the right … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, China consumer, China economy, ECONOMY | Leave a comment

More US Workers Tapping Pensions Early: Fidelity

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

A record number of U.S. workers are tapping into their retirement accounts to make it through the economic downturn, Fidelity Investments found in a survey released Friday. Among the 11 million workers whose 401(k) plans are run by Fidelity, 11 … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, CONSUMER, DELEVERAGING, US consumer | Leave a comment

US CHAIN STORE SALES STRONG IN JULY

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

US chain store sales edged down 0.1% last week after the strong July gains. The 4-week moving average is up 1.4% from last month and 3.8% against 2009 strongest month. Interestingly, July strong chain store sales happened while car sales … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, RETAILING, US consumer, US economy, USA retailing | Leave a comment

US GDP REVISIONS MEAN FASTER CONSUMER DELEVERAGING AND LOW INFLATION

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

The U.S. economy increased 2.4% in the second quarter, slightly below market expectations. Q2 delivered slower GDP growth compared to Q1 but with a marked acceleration in real domestic demand from 1.3% to 4.1%. We prefer to see a weaker … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, INFLATION/DEFLATION, US consumer, US economy | Leave a comment

CHINA WANTS TO PEG WAGES TO INFLATION

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

The Communist Party seems focused on addressing rising income inequalities in China. The China Daily article reports on the huge discrepancies between working for State-owned entities and private companies. The Economic Observer next discusses measures taken by the Government to … Continue reading →

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Posted in China consumer, China employment | 1 Comment

THE COMING TAX BITE FOR AMERICANS

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Much is being written about the discontinuation of the Bush tax cuts next January. Dennis Gartman provides the numbers each American is most concerned with. If we only concern ourselves with the biggest spenders, their discretionary income will be shaved … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, RETAILING, TAXES, US consumer, US economy, USA retailing | Leave a comment

SURVEY SAYS CHINA WAGES UP 10.1% IN 2010

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

An income survey report, based on 5,866 enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, released by Zhaopin.com in July, shows that the average wage rise was 10.1 percent so far this year, 1.9 percentage points higher than 2009. The statistics from … Continue reading →

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Posted in CONSUMER, China consumer, China economy, China employment, ECONOMY, EMPLOYMENT | Leave a comment