Economy: In Consumers We Trust 2012 IV

This morning we got conflicting news - as so often these days. The weekly jobless claims rose and are signaling that the sluggish recovery on the job market is taking another break. But Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of the world, reported strong numbers from the first quarter of their business year (by April 30th). Compared to last year, revenues rose 8.5%, and profit climbed 10.5% (bloomberg).

These numbers match with the reports of other retailers like Macy´s which also told about strong consumer demand. Wal-Mart et al. show that U.S. consumers aren´t too worried about Greece or other negative news and are still raising their expenditures, the engine of the global economy.

But as usual in these days, the stock market continues to focus on the Greek drama and is moving south. I guess falling stock prices instead of the still growing economy are creating another buying opportunity in the bull market which began in spring 2009.