Where is the US economy headed?

So you contribute to the "I just don't know what." by cheerleading mass consumerism, and supporting the death of the planet by reporting on it?

I am taking a temperature, not cheerleading.

And I assume you're paying your staff fifteen an hour, plus tips?

Then do some actual research.

So far my impression is that I know far more than you on this subject. If you have any more to say on it however I might change my mind. you know where to find me.

Corrupt politics does intersect with the economy, but not here, so it is not a matter for this thread.

A 4% increase was projected by many pundits. We'll see come mid-January and we will also find out how much a bite e-commerce takes out of brick and mortar

On the plus side Walmart might have finally after years of mistakes done something right, they have spent most of the last year trying to fix their stores, and they are trying to do small stores. However, the negative press on not treating their employees well might make that improvement moot.

A theme running through the Plan is that without secure access to and control over our food, and without authentic freedom of choice when it comes to food, we lack the basis for any lasting personal, community and national development.

By putting our own people — our farmers, Australian businesses, our own communities — first when making decisions about our food future we become better able to provide fairly for our own needs and to play our role in helping feed those beyond our borders.

In a time of change such as we now find ourselves in, creating a fair food system that offers opportunity to small-to-medium farming and economic enterprises, to the people with ideas and for our citizens is a matter of personal, community, economic and national security. The Peoples’ Food Plan sets a fair and sensible course to these things… to a resilient food system. In this endeavour we invite you to join us.

Together we can built a better, more resilient food future…

(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp <SHLD.O> reported a quarterly net loss of $548 million, slightly less than it had estimated last month, and the struggling retailer said it had nearly doubled its planned store closures to cut costs.


Shares of Sears were down 1.2 percent at $33.85 in early trading on the Nasdaq.

Sears, which has been selling off assets and closing stores in an attempt to return to profitability, said last month it was expecting a net loss attributable to shareholders of between $590 million and $630 million for the fiscal third quarter ending Nov. 1. Sears recorded a net loss of $534 million in the same period last year.

Quarterly sales fell 13 percent to $7.21 billion, a reflection in part of its shrinking store count.

The company reported an adjusted loss before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) of $296 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $310 million a year earlier.

The figures pointed to an "improving trend" that was expected to continue in the fourth quarter, Chief Executive Eddie Lampert said on a pre-recorded conference call.

Sears also disclosed that it planned to close a total of 235 underperforming stores in 2014, nearly double the projection of 130 made in August, although it had said at the time it may decide to shutter more beyond that target. Sears said eliminating those stores should boost EBITDA by $50 million

Eddie “fast buck” Lampert is squeezing the proverbial turnip for more cash — as the musicians aboard the sinking “Titanic” are now truly playing “Nearer My God to Thee.” The cash he’s squeezing out is his own, in the form of a $400 million loan from his hedge fund, ESL Holdings. And regardless of his sinking ship, he’s got a life saver in the form of a healthy interest rate and a loan secured by valuable real estate. So “abracadabra Eddie” keeps the ship afloat. For now.
Unfortunately the music is about to end, and as he continues to sell off the “deck chairs” (read: assets), Sears and its bleeding sister, Kmart, will finally sink into the briny. Some experts predict this will happen by 2016. Regardless of the financial predictions, these two retail brands are “dead men walking” as I write.
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For a miraculous intervention to halt Sear’s death spiral, Eddie Lampert must first remove himself from the helm. He needs to find a retail genius, granted there is a very short supply in this industry. And furthermore, he must find a genius that would be interested in taking on the wreckage.

Shoppers are getting smarter. The start of the holiday shopping season shows a simple discount, even a big one, isn't always enough to lure people to buy.
Shoppers can sniff out a legitimate deal from a fake one and are even leaving items in online shopping carts as reminders to look for a better bargain.
Shoppers with more knowledge and new patience may have contributed to the less-than-stellar turnout over Thanksgiving weekend, the traditional kickoff of holiday shopping.

Stores heavily discounted holiday merchandise days and even weeks before Black Friday. That gave shoppers plenty of opportunities to avoid the big lines.
That seemed to backfire over Thanksgiving weekend.
The endless stream of sales pitches made many shoppers confident that heavy discounts would continue right on through Christmas.
That may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The lukewarm start to the season means retailers will watch the next few weeks closely and could roll out more promotions than planned, says Dave Bassuk, managing director and co-head of the retail practice at AlixPartners.

'Retailers' greed hurt them, and the consumer is so much smarter,' he said.
ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based consumer analytics company that tracks data at malls and stores but not online sites, said earlier this week that sales for the four-day weekend slipped 2.1per cent to $21.76 billion.
Cyber Monday deals are also being stretched out into 'Cyber Week' and even earlier, crimping sales on the day itself. Sales rose 8.5 percent that day, the Monday after Thanksgiving, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. But that wasn't as strong as was expected.
The National Federation still projects sales will rise 4.1per cent for November and December, which accounts for on average 20per cent of the industry's total sales. But analysts expect a retail slugfest over winning those dollars.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862441/How-holiday-shoppers-getting-smarter.html#ixzz3L6W1cmUP
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