SNAP OUT OF IT

America... get a grip. All the angst over retail sales, housing meltdowns, financial sinkholes, etc. is taking a huge psychological toll on the nation. President-elect Obama's main job needs to "counsellor in chief", bring in some sunny optimism... and fast. Enough of the "it's horrible, it will get worse, blah blah blah".  Think Reagan... "Morning in America".

Case in point: Retail sales numbers were released yesterday. Yes, December was down more than experts expected, 2.7%  About 10% December 08 vs. December 07.  Not a surprise, considering all the negative news... the non-stop telling Americans "you're not buying, it's going to be awful". 

BUT: With all the nasty, negative news for weeks throughout the Christmas season, didn't you expect much , much worse? Exactly.  And care to take a guess regarding how retail sales fared for the entire year?   Off 10%?  20? More?  We wouldn't be surprised if those were the real numbers, based on political spin, Wall St. news and constant jitters.   Here's the real number, 2008 vs. 2007 in retail sales... for the entire year in the USA:  Down 0.1%  That's right. A mere TENTH of one percent. Surprised? You bet. Let's get over it and move forward with more confidence.

SPEAKING OF REAGAN: The 40th President used to love to tell the story of the little kid who was digging deep through a huge manure pile. When asked why he was doing that the boy said, "With all this manure there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!". Now that's optimism.