There was no good news in the retail sales figures released this morning. Here’s the Census Bureau press release ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES: Latest Release Of particular note is the astounding drop in auto sales from last year: 25.2% down. No wonder GM is feeling the squeeze. The last quarter has […]

Joe Stiglitz has this to say about the auto industry bailout: FT.com / UK – Chapter 11 is the right road for America’s carmakers He muddles some things up. He says, for instance, that the bailout has been mischaracterized as a bailout of ‘undeserving dinosaurs’. Which in my opinion is exactly what it is. Where […]

Lost in all the blather about the nearly defunct American auto industry was the news today that jobless claims, those people filing for state level unemployment payments, jumped by over 50,000 last month: First-time jobless claims jump to 573,000, a 26-year high – MarketWatch There a few salient points here: First: This is bad news. […]