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Hopes for the fledgling economic recovery got a boost Monday from better-than-expected news on manufacturing, construction and contracts to buy homes. U.S. manufacturing activity grew in October at the fastest pace in more than three years, according to a private group's measure. It was driven by government spending, businesses' need to rebuild their inventories and higher demand from overseas. The Commerce ...

Conventional measures of the U.S. recession may be no more accurate than the underwear index, which charts sales of men's underwear, a consumer researcher said. The theory suggests that sales of men's underwear are stable - as are sales of other necessities - but during financial downturns sales drop off. "It's a prolonged purchase," Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer ...

The Great Recession has turned into the best of times for young investor Daniel Lee. Early this year, the 30-year-old salesman in Scottsdale, Ariz., shelved expensive meals and vacation plans and threw "every spare dollar" into the stock market. The value of his portfolio has more than tripled as the market has rallied since March. "This is like buying a swim ...

WASHINGTON — Retail sales dropped in December as prices plunged at gasoline stations and stores, and consumers cut spending during the key holiday shopping season amid uncertainty about their jobs, incomes and the overall economy. Sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in December, the sixth-consecutive monthly decline, the Commerce Department said. Sales were down 9.8% from December 2007, the biggest year-over-year ...

This article has obvious bias, but is an interesting take on the United States' current economic status.  Weigh in on the subject, how are sales professionals viewing the efforts of the presidency?  What are the positives and negatives?

DETROIT - There are early signs auto sales may have hit bottom in the first quarter, industry leaders say, and even could recover in the second half if the government encourages car buying. But experts such as Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally also warn that optimism could turn to panic if major auto suppliers collapse. "Clearly, the health of the supply ...

NEW YORK - Investors are rushing into stocks as surprise increases in pending home sales and construction spending offer the latest signs that the economy is stabilizing. Investors have been more upbeat about prospects for the economy in the last two months and Monday's reports are bolstering the case that the economy's slide could be slowing. Pending U.S. home sales rose ...

A top Ford executive says Cash for Clunkers helped spur the first industrywide increase in auto sales in more than two years this month, the latest sign of recovery in the hobbled auto industry. Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, says annualized industry sales may have hit 13 million in August. He says Ford has already surpassed August sales last ...

For most of this decade, homes around Fayetteville sold themselves. People bought twice as many houses last year as they did in 2000. "You could basically just stick a sign in the yard and it happened," said Wendy Harris, owner of Team Harris Real Estate since 2001. That's not the case anymore, she said. Sales are down 15 percent compared with ...

This is a very interesting article about how economic changes have resulted in a change to the way that women buy.  It suggests that whether they are moms or CEOs the mindset of female consumers has definitely changed; and that we must consider these changes and incorporate solutions into our selling styles. JDG

DETROIT - June car sales were bad - 28% lower than a year ago - but industry executives say they think the market has hit bottom and will continue to inch up as the year progresses. It was the first month since September that sales have fallen less than 30%. With the government's cash-for-clunkers rebate program set to begin sometime in ...

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MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of eMarketer's new report "Retail E-Commerce Forecast: Cautious Optimism" to their collection of Media & Publishing market reports. For more information, visit MarketResearch.com. US retail e-commerce sales (excluding travel) will total $132 billion in 2009, down 0.4% from 2008. Assuming the recession ends this year, as many economists predict, eMarketer forecasts online sales will begin to ...

One of the most pernicious tendencies companies fall victim to in downturns is to focus on and project out near-term data points. The result? An inaccurate reflection of the future. The current extreme economic conditions only exacerbate this tendency.

more tips to start moving forward

More repeat buyers appear to be buying homes, contributing to a slight uptick in existing-home sales this spring. First-time buyers' share of existing-home sales in April declined to 40% from over half in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. The majority of buyers are now repeat buyers, which includes owner-occupants who are moving up to larger or more expensive ...

Guam's economy generated $6.2 billion in sales in 2007, up from $4.6 billion in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Economic Census of Island Areas: Geographic Area Series for Guam. The economic census profiles Guam's economy every 5 years. In 2007, Guam had 3,143 businesses with paid employees. These businesses employed 52,394 people and accounted for $1.1 billion in ...

Retailers are bracing for another weak holiday season - or not. A recent survey by the retail trade publication RIS News showed only one in six retailers believe this holiday season will be worse than last, but more than 85% said "weak customer demand" will be their biggest challenge. Consumer insights firm BIGresearch reports nearly a third of consumers say they ...

Finally, retail sales figures are poised to turn positive. But don't get too excited about forecasts that consumer spending, the biggest single component driving the U.S. economy, will edge back into the black for the Christmas holiday. "The fourth quarter looks better than last year," said Frank Badillo, chief economist with industry think tank Retail Forward. "But we're still looking at ...

  what do you think?