Some good news

I walked into a friends office yesterday and he called me "Mr. Gloom" as he was watching the Dow fall 250 points and hit levels last seen in 1997.

So I thought I would pass along some good news... The running store's sales for this February vs. last February are up over 20%. I'm not sure if this is a leading indicator or just a freak of weather or what. The same is true at our two sister stores in South Jersey.

I was also talking with another friend this weekend, and he made an interesting observation. He said that while there were people losing their jobs, most people had not been affected in their income level. Meaning that for over 90% of the population, nothing has changed except their 401K statements. The fact that their house is worth less does not really impact their day-to-day "Income Statement". We speculated that people were saving a bit more than they did and building up a cushion, but in the long run this was kind of healthy.

Anyway, some positive thoughts for the day. Although I still say the Dow will go down to 6,000...

Comments

Shaun Connolly said…
Bob, It is pretty freaky how accurate your prediction back in October that the Dow will go down to 6,000 is proving to be. I remember sharing your post with others I know and none of them (other than my financial advisor, go figure) felt that 6,000 was even a remote possibility. We sit at 6500 today...mere spitting distance of 6k.
March 10, 2009 at 2:29 AM
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