Good to see a bit of brevity in this thread, although its a pity...

Good to see a bit of brevity in this thread, although its a pity we cant discuss banks, or Hollywood movies.   he he

So lets discuss retail sales.  I read this article about it being a horror show.
Australia’s 18-month retail recession exposed in “horror show” report
David Adams  August 29, 2024

Australian businesses are enduring an “economic horror show” through a retail recession, with meaningful relief unlikely before 2025.  Fresh analysis from Deloitte Access Economics, released overnight, shows real retail spending has fallen in six of the last seven quarters. Per capita spending — the amount spent on retail businesses divided by the number of Australian households — paints an even grimmer picture.
“Real per capita retail spending has contracted for the last eight quarters and is now 2.5% lower than June 2023 and 6.3% lower than June 2022,” the report said.
In a statement, Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens drew a grim conclusion from the data.

Src: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/ind...-deloitte-retail-recession-spending-downturn/

Not sure its a horror show, but there is a lot of volatilty in retail sales. Had a look in Trading-economics, and look at those spikes. Whats that all about? The interesting this is, in the last 40 years we've only seen those spikes  twice - both around  times of Tech Melt ups. So are we getting another indicator that the market and our economies are about to go pear shaped.?


Also you cant help notice that despite  constant population growth,  the overall rate of consumer spending is declining? Any theories? Maybe our immigrants are tight fisted?   I have a few theories...

1. A month or more ago, I suggested here that Youtube videos were helping people to DIY , thus avoiding forking out money to pay for services.
2. There are a plethora of fools on Facebook Marketplace giving away stuff for free or next to nothing. Got myself a nice free glass Breville kettle that way....(retails $90)
3. With online shopping so pervasive now, many people (including) myself get a lot of stuff from China directly, and save heaps.

So this time might actually be a little different, in that the consumer has a few choices now to mitigate the high cost of living. They might just be able to hold out a little longer and keep their lifestyle going before the crash comes.