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Keith Fitz-Gerald, chief investment strategist at Money Map Press, weighs in on the weak holiday sales season.
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Sales of the two months before Christmas increased point 7% some analysts say.
That the 2012 shopping season was affected by bad weather and people's uncertainly about the economy joining us now he FitzGerald from money map.
Press keep you really think that's affecting people's shopping habits I think they're just worried about the money in their -- they don't have as much of it is they used to.
Well frank that we view I think it's not the weather that has it didn't do -- I think that's always an an easy thing to blame but the reality situation is the average American has less money in their pocket.
They're very concerned about the lack of adult supervision Washington.
And retailers in part I think -- to blame for this because they've spread holiday shopping across multiple seasons and multiple outlets.
At a time when consumers don't have a lot of money they're simply missing the boat here they've done it to themselves the specials are very aggressive after Christmas so we've got a few days to make this up but I don't think.
It's gonna happen and with the exception of housing housing is a good story we've been talking about this morning it continues to improve thank goodness it does -- somebody jobs depend on housing but.
With the exception of that we've seen.
I would say a sort of slow down in an already slow recovery.
Over the past couple -- months I just sense that that's beginning to work into people's buying decisions right now.
I would agree with that again I you know I spend a lot of my time traveling around United States around the world in fact.
And I see consumers who -- very very uncertain about the fiscal cliff they're very uncertain about what's gonna happen to taxes.
And they you what I hear a lot is -- really worried about inflation the government says officially doesn't exist of course but reality is everybody is experiencing 9121520%.
In their pocketbooks.
So evidently these guys in Washington don't eat they don't shop in their own food and they don't -- -- -- you know I've had this -- Richard -- is a very decent guy he's ahead of the Dallas Federal Reserve board and he argues with me that there's no inflation but everything that you need to buy because they factor -- all this other stuff.
Has been -- -- a pound of coffee and I remember the same kind of coffee costing 499.
When -- bought -- about a year ago because my wife I must admit -- most of our shopping it now costs over eight dollars I mean you know coffee.
Milk -- everything is going up.
We see the same thing when I go to Costco for example with my wife spicy salmon that used to be 8910 dollars a pound a seventeen to 25 dollars a pound and in my wife from Japan tracks those things very carefully.
So I'm very proud of her as a shopper but I hear about it constantly so for something -- no inflation we -- -- -- a -- that your need to -- -- keep -- Adam Shapiro I'm not going to say I disagree with -- I just wanna know where do you get the figures that inflation is -- 20% I'm just.
Would give me.
Where that comes from that seems pretty pretty high through at least Myers.
You that I think that if you look at a couple different sources you contracted individually can look at what your health insurance opinions -- doing your education bills but my favorite site is something called shadow stats they track unadulterated CPI.
And it varies between 81012%.
Depending on which versions of those numbers you -- because every administration seems to adjust those figures.
To proactively reflecting keep them down.
And the government has every senator to do that because cost of living increases are tied to that military spending side to that a lot of things are tied to.
Cost of living increases that are backed tied to inflation and also because right now let's face -- keep the -- reserve -- become a branch of the US government essentially it's supposed to be private institution.
It's been it's been essentially -- money.
Two it to bail out all of the free spending politicians and that this has that -- -- -- Galati means less money in our pocket.
Well that's right -- -- you know that there's -- this illusion that government spending is in fact gonna make up for the private spending gap is just that it's an illusion it hasn't worked that way throughout history on anything other than a short term basis.
It may stave off the pain now but it's really -- game -- kick the can down the road and sadly these guys in Washington.
Who have had months and months and months and years in fact the work on this don't seem to understand that this is government at the expense of the people not for the people even my friend Richard Richard Fisher -- in Dallas Texas by the way -- -- -- but I think even he has it wrong -- see inflation all over the place.
Keith good to see -- thank you very much for coming in appreciate it.
Happy holiday -- they hit.
