Currency Newswire » Economic Indicators

Retail Chain Store Sales Plummet

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:57:06 +0000

After a peculiar pick up in April, the chain store sales trendline has reverted to a complete collapse, dropping a whopping and record 4.6% in May. Look like tax refund stimulus benefits have done their temporary magic and now all trends are back on their usual course.

Below is the definition on Chain Store Sales for those unfamiliar:

The monthly chain store sales data are compiled in two basic forms: (1) based on comparable- store sales (the primary measure) and (2) based on total company stores. They are sales weighted indexes and currently cover a little more than 80 chains. The compilation of the data as an index allows for continuity over the long haul (much like a stock price index).

Weekend Reading

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Egan-Jones takes dim view of Morgan Stanley’s health (Dealbook, hat tip Ubu)
Faith based economics (John Mauldin via Ritholtz)
So much for the Volkswagen- Porsche merger (Bloomberg) [next stop much wider CDS]
Another former NY Pension overseers in Cuomo’s probe (Bloomberg)
Joseph Cassano: the man with the trillion dollar bounty (Times Online)
Investor sentiment: Is more bulls a good thing? (Technical Take)
The long pain in Long Beach (WSJ)
The play (Finem Respice)
The ungovernable state (Economist)
Yet another amusing interview with Myron Scholes (NYT)
FHLB shortages papered over (OptionArmageddon)
Obama budget chief: signs economic free fall over… [You were expecting?] (Reuters)