Michael Gracie 

A list not worth saving I’m thankful one of my guests yesterday was an attorney.  He’s already threatened to sue me over my cooking and I need a good lawsuit to keep my mind off work this holiday season. US investors should be thankful for the SEC. They’re keeping their priorities straight. The fishing industry [...]

Nobody got the memo, and I got all this in my feed reader simultaneously The Obvious, to everyone other than the NAR – Home Prices Fall 12.7% (The Big Picture) The Cheers, from Walmart shareholders – Consumer confidence drops in April on inflation, job worries (Associated Press) The Quandary, from the Taxpayer Defamation League – [...]

Same day, different zombies Consumer Spending in U.S. Rises More Than Forecast! and.. Consumer Confidence in U.S. Falls to Lowest Level in More Than Two Years? UPDATE: Not too confusing – once again it’s about energy and food prices.

Via AP/Yahoo: Economists said conditions are being exacerbated by renewed problems in financial markets as investors have become worried by a string of huge losses reported by some of America’s largest corporations, including General Motors, Merill Lynch and Citicorp. These sobering earnings reports are raising concerns about how many more billions of dollars in losses [...]

The Conference Board has just release the latest Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), and the numbers have rebounded nicely for December. Who the hell is the Conference Board polling? Retailers are desperately seeking AFTER-Christmas sales to shore up their year, domestic auto makers spent the summer giving away cars at the expense of any year end [...]