Part 28:
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index just suffered the biggest drop we've seen since August 2021...
Consumers grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook in February as concerns brewed about a slowing economy and rising inflation, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down 7 points and below the Dow Jones forecast for 102.3. This was the lowest reading since June 2024 and the largest monthly drop since August 2021.
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The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index fell to the lowest level we've seen since November 2023...
The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers on Friday released its consumer sentiment index which dropped from 71.7 in January to 64.7 in February. That’s the lowest reading since November 2023 and was weaker than the preliminary reading of 67.8, which was the consensus expectation among economists polled by Reuters.
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U.S. retail sales just fell by “the most in nearly two years” …
U.S. retail sales dropped by the most in nearly two years in January, likely weighed down by frigid temperatures, wildfires and motor vehicle shortages, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth early in the first quarter.
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Walmart is warning us that it will experience a year-over-year drop in quarterly profit for the first time in 3 years…
Shares of Walmart Inc. were hit hard Thursday after the retail behemoth provided a disappointing earnings outlook, including a warning for the first year-over-year decline in quarterly profits in three years.
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Last month, sales of previously-owned homes dropped 4.9 percent…
The U.S. housing market continues to weaken, as potential buyers face stubbornly high mortgage rates, elevated prices and limited supply of listings.
Sales of previously owned homes fell 4.9% in January from the previous month to 4.08 million units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Analysts were expecting a 2.6% decline.
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The cost of living is absolutely crushing most Americans. At this stage, almost 70 percent of all single adults “struggle to afford their regular rent or mortgage payments”…
Nearly 70% of single, divorced or separated people struggle to afford their regular rent or mortgage payments, compared to just over half (52%) of married people, according to a recent Redfin-commissioned survey. More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents who live with their partner but aren't married struggle with housing payments, making them the group most likely to struggle.
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Forever 21 has announced that it will be closing another 200 stores…
A clothing chain that was once a fixture in every mall across America is to close 200 more stores as it prepares for second bankruptcy in five years.
Amid mounting debt, Forever 21’s US operator could file for Chapter 11 protection as soon as next month, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
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Joann Inc. has decided to close all of its stores in the United States…
Joann Inc., which has supplied crafty Americans with art supplies and fabrics for decades, recently announced that it plans to close all of its U.S. stores, just a month after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In a statement obtained by Reuters on Sunday, the 82-year-old company announced its plans to sell all assets to a buyer group. Joann executives originally hoped that a buyer would continue its business, but the highest bidder is slated to start going-out-of-business sales at all locations.
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Household debt in the United States has now crossed the 18 trillion dollar mark…
Americans’ household debt — including credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and student loans — is at a new all-time high of $18.04 trillion, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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More than 26 trillion dollars has been added to the U.S. national debt since the start of 2009, and now we are shelling out more than a trillion dollars a year just in interest payments…
And the punchline is that no matter what Musk does, the USS Titanic is now more or less on autopilot because while a few billions in discretionary spending can be cut, interest on the debt can not be – without a default (it can however be inflated away… and it will be) – and in January, gross interest on the Federal debt hit a record $1.167 trillion in the past twelve months thanks to another $83.6 billion in interest spending.
