National Retail Sales figures were released today and the government tells us that they are doing very well, and have been for quite some time.

But are they, really?

For example, how much of this rise has been nothing more and nothing less than a statistical mirage created by the increased cost of fuel?

Has  the recent run-up in commodities, ( Read more... )

This bodes quite ill for the United Kingdom's recovery, especially so as this report comes on the heels of official data that shows that UK GDP actually contracted in the final quarter of 2010.

Wall Street Journal
U.K. Retail Sales Plunged Last Month
LONDON-U.K. retailers suffered their worst fall in sales in at least 16 years in March, ( Read more... )

( Thanks to recent teacher layoffs and the miserable job market, I've gone from substitute high-school teacher to Walmart associate. )

After expanding at its fastest pace since 1999 in the second quarter of this year, the British economy appears to have run into trouble in the third and heading into the final quarter.

Daily Mirror
Economy takes turns for the worse
by Graham Hiscott, Daily Mirror 12/10/2010

The economy suffered a triple-whammy of woe yesterday - just over a week ( Read more... )

From Der Speigel
08/18/2010 04:52 PM
By Frank Thadeusz

( Did Germany experience rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century due to an absence of copyright law? A German historian argues that the massive proliferation of books, and thus knowledge, laid the foundation for the country's industrial might. )

By MERCEDES CARDONA
Posted 3:00 PM 08/20/10
Company News, Blockbuster, Saks, Retail, American Eagle Outfitters

Your next shopping trip may not be as convenient as it used to be. The second quarter earnings season brought news from ( Read more... )

David A. Rosenberg July 16, 2010
Chief Economist & Strategist Economic Commentary
GluskinSheff

U.S. SLOWDOWN
Only a fool or the most visually challenged can’t see that growth is moderating significantly. Forecasts for a slowing towards 2% real GDP growth are no longer rare. Canada too is softening and the cracks are starting to deepen in the housing ( Read more... )

A second leg-down of a "W"-shaped economic cycle now almost assured.
The only real question left to ask now is just "How low does the second leg go?"

In one more sign of a potentially lackluster print on second quarter GDP, retail sales fell sharply in May after a modest increase in April. Taken together, if June were to end up about flat, retail ( Read more... )

From RTE Business
German retail sales post surprise dropGerman retail sales posted a surprise drop in March, bringing the first quarter figure back to its level of early 2009, official data showed today ( Read more... )

From Econoday.com

ICSC-Goldman Same Store Sales Released on 4/13/2010 For wk4/10, 2010   PriorActual Store Sales - W/W change2.1 %0.1 %Store Sales - Y/Y4.7 %4.0 % Highlights
ICSC-Goldman reports a 0.1 percent rise in week-on-week ( Read more... )