Consumers Are Tired - Retail Sales Numbers Clinch It

The almighty American consumer is… spread a little thin right now. A little worse for the wear. That’s not just a hunch. Today’s retail sales numbers were negative - very negative.

But to understand what’s really happening we have to get in and look behind that headline 0.8% drop.

A lot of that decline took place in auto sales; that’s more confirmation that consumers are tired out. That’s the smoking gun, in fact, and we’ll look right down the barrel. Of course we’ll investigate the number of delinquent auto loans, as well.

Let’s dive in…