Thread: Shopper angst, discounts hurt December retailer sales

Remember all those claims about great Christmas sales in December?

Well, it look like the liberals were lying again.

1. Shopper angst, discounts hurt December retailer salesMany top U.S. retailers reported disappointing December sales as consumers who shopped right after Thanksgiving would only spend again on big bargains and were set to stay frugal in 2011.
   Reuters via Yahoo! News - 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
   
   
   
2. Blizzards chill airline profits for DecemberTwo carriers quantify the extent to which December’s severe snowstorms affected their business, but an industry analyst sees signs of underlying performance strength.
   Market Watch - 1 hour, 22 minutes ago
   
   
   
3. UK December coldest for 100 yearsLast December was among the coldest months in the UK temperature record - though globally, the year was one of the warmest documented.
   BBC News - Jan 05 06:08am
   
   
   • December 'coldest in a century' - BBC News
   • December coldest in UK for 100 years - TVNZ
   • December big freeze set new record - Yorkshire Post
   • all 134 news articles…
   
   
   
   
4. December Retail Sales Ho-Hum: 5 Stock LosersNEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Retailers got more coal than presents in their stockings in December. Of the 26 retailers tracked by TheStreet, 13 missed expectations, 12 topped forecasts and one fell in-line with estimates. Overall, December same-store sales rose 3.1% according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. The research firm was looking for a 3.5% increase. ... Click to view a price ...
   TheStreet.com - 2 hours, 38 minutes ago
   
   
   • December retail sales dented by blizzard, frugality - Reuters via Yahoo! News
   • December Retail Sales: Live Blog - TheStreet.com
   • Blizzard, shopper angst hurt December retail sales - Reuters via Yahoo! News
   • all 72 news articles…
   
   
   
   

Aside from this article, I haven't seen one news story talking about a big drop off in sales from November to December (and Black Friday sales in November were only up half a percent from last year).