Re: Monday doom and gloom
here's a story that should provide some much needed 'perspective'
(snip)"Unity Marketing, a Stevens, Pa.-based firm whose clients include retailers in the more than $322 billion U.S. luxury goods market, said its latest poll of affluent people nationwide found a 20 percent decline in spending on luxury goods in this year's second quarter, and the lowest luxury consumer confidence level in the nearly five years the survey has been conducted.
Just over half of the 1,024 respondents earning an average income of $204,800 predicted they would spend less on luxury in the coming 12 months than they did a year ago.
Luxury spending fell 4 percent last year, and this year's decline is expected to be steeper, particularly for luxury handbags and clothing that don't hold value, Unity Marketing President Pam Danziger said.
"We face a very different environment for luxury indulgence in 2008 as compared to 2007," said Danziger, who predicts "a very difficult marketplace for luxury goods over the next five years."
For most Americans, the choice has been whether to give up small indulgences, such as eating out or going to the movies, to help defray the rising cost of food and fuel.
For the wealthy, the choices have been different.
"People are examining, 'Do you keep the yacht, do you go to the classic car auction, do you take the private jet?"' said Joseph Montgomery, managing director of investments at Wachovia Securities. "Those sound like nice problems to have, but at the same time, they are issues.":(snip)
There was also some VERY good news for Wall St. that took place over the weekend ... but you have to look in the foreign media to find the story ...
(snip)"Financial Times – July 29 – (Paul J Davies and Joanna Chung): “Banks have been given a one-year reprieve by US accounting standard-setters from having to take up to $5,000bn of debt assets on to their balance sheets, easing fears that they would be forced to raise large amounts of new capital quickly. The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to delay until January 2010 the introduction of rules that will force banks to consolidate more off-balance-sheet vehicles directly in their accounts. However, Robert Herz, FASB chairman, said that the move was made reluctantly after a staff recommendation for a delay because there might not be enough time for all companies to adjust to the up-heaval. ‘It does pain me to allow something that has been abused by certain folks, to let that go on for another year,’ he said.”"(snip)