End of Month Blues?

Consumer spending fell by 0.1% in September while economists were expecting a rise in spending by 0.3%. The good thing is personal incomes rose by 0.5% after economists were expecting a 0.3% rise. Prices fell by 0.3% largely due to energy prices. So what the net of all these numbers means is that consumers have more money in their pockets, but right now they are not spending like they were. It appears as if they are saving.

The above numbers also mean that I should be an economist since they also appear to be able to predict as well as I can. This is going to be a confusing time for the Fed. Everywhere you look you can spot conflicting numbers and measures. One says the economy is fine, one says the economy is slowing, still another says the economy is growing. So what’s a Fed to do? Personally, I’m hoping they drop rates and let the economy move a little. I don’t think the inflation rate is too high right now to worry about risking a recession by raising rates.

So word on the street according to the business news this morning is that today and tomorrow are going to be down days as fund managers sell to take profits for their monthly returns. Boy the competition and pressure must be intense for them to perform as a lot of them seem to be trading, rather than managing money. So I’m expecting CLRK and SCUR to drop over the next couple of days then continue their climb upwards.