You are here
Dan Denning: Gold and Gravity
Wal-Mart Sales Stoke Recovery Fears
By James Politi in New York
and Chris Giles in London
Financial Times, London
Sunday, November 28, 2004
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/40804c8c-4172-11d9-9dd8-00000e2511c8.html
Worries about the sustainability of the US economic
recovery were stoked on Sunday after the stores
group Wal-Mart, seen as a bellwether for the country's
retail sector, announced that sales had grown by only
0.7 percent in the year to November -- a much lower
rate than the 2-4 percent increase Wal-Mart had
estimated just 10 days ago.
The world's largest retailer revised its estimates down
on Saturday evening after disappointing sales on "Black
Friday," the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally one
of the biggest shopping days in the US.
The retailer reported that sales had fallen "below plan" in
the last week of November and sales growth was down
on the 2.8 percent annual rate it had reported for October.
The weakness suffered by Wal-Mart, if reflected
elsewhere, would add to concerns about the durability
of the economic upturn. Any widespread reluctance by
consumers to maintain their free and easy spending
habits would slow the economy sharply.
In recent years, and even in the recession of 2001, US
consumers defied repeated predictions that their
appetite for new goods would diminish. A widespread
slowdown of consumer spending would also add to
recent dollar-related concerns in other countries about
the prospects for exports to the US.
Although Wal-Mart reported strong sales of digital
cameras, TV/DVD combo boxes, learning toys, and
video games, it said "customer traffic declined toward
the end of the week."
Bill Breemer, head of America's Research Group, a
consumer research firm that surveyed 1,000 shoppers
every night over the long weekend said that one reason
for the slow sales at Wal-Mart could be that it did not
discount as heavily as other retailers.
"This year they did not get nearly as aggressive on the
early-bird specials, and it cost them," he said, adding
that rivals such as JC Penney, Best Buy, Sears, and
Circuit City had discounted more deeply this year.
The lacklustre sales at Wal-Mart also appeared to be
the result of higher energy prices in particular that of
heating gas.
Scott Krugman, spokesman for the National Retail
Federation, said discounters were especially
vulnerable to the higher gas prices because it hit their
customers' disposable income.
Mr Beemer's survey found that shopping levels overall
on Friday were flat or down as much as 5 percent. But
other surveys painted a more optimistic picture.
Preliminary data from research firms appeared to show
a growth in overall traffic and sales compared with last
year with the most encouraging numbers from
Shoppertrak showing sales on Friday grew 10.8 percent
from a year ago to $8 billion.
Visa USA said spending on its cards rose 15.5 percent
to $4.1 billion although experts cautioned that this
number may be more a reflection of the increased use
of credit cards.
The National Retail Federation is predicting a strong
holiday shopping season, with sales up 4.5 percent to
about $220 billion over the whole period.
----------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:
gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:
gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
----------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com
http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.html
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com
Subscription sites:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/
http://www.interventionalanalysis.com
http://www.investmentindicators.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
----------------------------------------------------
COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com
Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East 1st Ave., Suite 403
Denver, Colorado 80206
www.USAGold.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
US (800) 869-5115
Canada 1-800-294-9462
European Union 00-800-2760-2760
Australia 0011-800-2760-2760
cpm@usagold.com
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net
El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com
Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com
Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com
----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO HELP GATA
If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.
By check:
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA
By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:
http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html
By GoldMoney:
http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L
Donors of $750 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled "GATA."
GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.
