Retail sales surged at a higher than expected rate in October, rising 1.7%.
The mainstream reported this as fantastic news signaling a strong economy. American consumers are out there buying lots of stuff. The stock market rallied and gold fell.
But the mainstream narrative isn’t giving you the full picture.
We got a much better than expected retail sales report for August. That sparked a selloff in gold and silver as the markets continue to anticipate Fed monetary tightening. But was this report really fantastic news? Peter Schiff breaks down the report and says it’s actually just telling us consumers are paying more to buy less.
CPI data came in slightly cooler than expected for August, giving new energy to the “transitory” inflation narrative. But can we really trust these numbers? In this episode, Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey takes a deep dive into the CPI and considers this question. He also touches on the big gold sell-off Thursday sparked by surprisingly good retail sales numbers.
In the Federal Reserve’s new world of “transitory” inflation, Americans are paying more to get less.
Retail sales were up 0.6% from May to June. According to the Commerce Department, American consumers spent $621 billion on retail goods and services last month. With the big 1.7% drop in May, retail sales remained below levels in March and April.
We’ve gotten quite a bit of economic data this week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell insists inflation is anchored at 2%. But his assurances notwithstanding, a lot of the data signals inflation. In his podcast, Peter went over some of the numbers and concluded that inflation isn’t anchored at all. It’s anchors aweigh. We are adrift in a sea of inflation.
After three straight months of sagging retail sales, American consumers flush with stimulus money went on a spending spree last month. Retail sales surged 5.3% to start the year, significantly beating expectations. In his podcast, Peter Schiff called it Christmas in January.
News of a possible “phase 1 trade deal” and movement toward a resolution of the Brexit fiasco have buoyed stocks and put a lid on silver and gold this week. But positive vibes on these two fronts overshadowed a lot of economic data that came out this week that was less than ideal. It seems the American consumer might be getting close to being maxed out. In this episode of the SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey digs into a big pile of debt and more.
In this week’s Friday Gold Wrap, Mike Maharrey covers some more bad signs in the economy, including rising oil prices, an unexpected drop in retail sales and a surge in negative-yielding government bonds. At best, it looks like the economy is slowing down. Or it could be the prelude to the next crisis. This raises an important question: who’s going to save us? Mike suggests we probably shouldn’t be counting on the politicians or the central bankers.
Even as the Federal Reserve and the financial news network pundits continue to dangle the prospect of a booming economy in front of us, we’re seeing more and more bad news that undermines this narrative and reveals the rotting foundation of the US economy. The wholesale inventory report that came out yesterday is the latest gloomy example.
If you saw the headlines about the latest retail sales figures, you probably noticed adjectives like “hot,” “booming” and “sizzling.” Total retail sales including food services were up 5.9% year-on-year in May.
That’s an impressive number until you factor in inflation. In fact, a decline in the dollar’s purchasing power accounted for nearly half the gains in retail sales.
