Consumer Discretionary Spending 'Plummets'

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/discover-june-consumer-discretionary-spending-2012-7


Ruh-oh.
We just got this in the inbox from Discover Financial Services, which keeps its own tally of consumer discretionary purchases.
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Discover’s June U.S. Spending Monitor is available today and shows consumer confidence dropped to its lowest levels since the start of 2012, declining 4.8 percentage points to 90.7. June’s monitor reports that consumers saw their personal finances and the economy as worsening, leading to lower spending intentions, specifically on discretionary purchases.
...
More than half of respondents rate the U.S. economy as poor, a 3-point increase since May and the highest level since January 2012
Nearly half (48 percent) of consumers expect spending on major personal purchases, like vacations, to be lower in July, a 6-point increase since last month
Nearly half (47 percent) of consumers expect to spend less on discretionary purchases in July, like going out to dinner or the movies
Consumers expecting to spend more in the month of July dropped 4 percentage points to 25 percent


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/discover-june-consumer-discretionary-spending-2012-7#ixzz1zZ6C3L16

[MadHound]

1. We're in the middle of a lost decade

And we're not going to get out of it unless the government actually starts some major spending.

Of course we know that's not going to happen. Obama and the Dems had their chance, for a couple of years, to truly stimulate spending, but they did far too little to make a long term difference.