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Obama presidency translating into consumer optimism?

Posted by satijournal • 2/12/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: Economy, politics, republican

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans bought a sweater or two, ate out a little more, purchased some gadgets and turned to the Internet in search of bargains in January. These small indulgences nevertheless provided some relief to suffering stores, boosting retail sales by 1 percent.

The unexpected increase from December, reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday, reversed a six-month decline and marked the biggest increase in 14 months.

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsanM66tszKz1zFq0LOG4XvWS7zAD96A...

User Comments

2/12/09

polybore

It is possible that the Obama effect has translated to retail sales. However it is equally likely that consumers have taken advantage of the bargains because they do not expect to make many purchases this year. Probably a combination of the two.

Unfortunately this is a blip. Consumers are carrying a lot of personal debt, have negative equity on their homes, get low interest returns on savings, have massively reduced stock investment value and to top it all reduced job security.

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2/12/09

clioandme

I was thinking the 1% related to the sales most stores held after a sorry holiday season. Also, a lot of us have had to buy the digital TV converter boxes, because analog TV had been scheduled to go off this month. Maybe that made a tiny dent in the equation? Maybe the Obama souvenirs did too? Yeah, I'm grasping at straws. I still can't help but see the 1% as a statistical blip, but only time will tell.

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1. 2/12/09
  
  satijournal
  
  That's it! The economy will be saved by the sales of Obama products!
2/12/09

satijournal

Could be. I'm more optimistic now that Bush is gone and we now have someone running the country who is actually interested in doing some good for the middle class. I won't be changing my spending habits, though.

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1. 2/12/09
  
  clioandme
  
  There are some things I need, like a computer, but my disposable income is zilch.
2. 2/12/09
  
  satijournal
  
  Try CraigsList. I bought my computer used for $50. 2Ghz with 768 ram, 40G HD. I don't play games so it's plenty fast enough.
2/12/09

jan4insight

I read about the 1% increase in January. Based on my business income, the consumer confidence hasn't come my way as yet

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2/12/09

libertycast1

Hey, that computer sounds like a good candidate for Xubuntu - a lightweight Ubuntu Linux desktop using the XFCE window manager.

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1. 2/13/09
  
  satijournal
  
  Naaaa, I'm running Fedora C10.
2/13/09

xmarks

January for us was the worst month on record. February is doing surprisingly well. We did take action to make for a better February but the results seem stronger than our actions should have caused.

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2/13/09

beinki

My guess is the price of oil coming down lead to consumers having more disposable income that had been budgeted elsewhere, consequently they purchased what they didn't buy for Christmas.

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1. 2/13/09
  
  csiunatc
  
  Unfortunately, 1 percent in sales, means very little here.
  
  car sales were up. But when looking at profits, they were way down for the month for instance. Most dealers cutting both front and back end profits on deals.
  
  Yes, this is a little recoup of the lack of spending in december. But until we get the profitability for the month, it says nothing.
2/13/09

Anok

I don't know if there is much of a correlation, honestly. There are sales going on, people perhaps already getting some of their tax returns back...maybe using some Christmas money to shop. There could also be just a regular old demand for products rather than a desire to consume.

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