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\f0\fs24 \cf0 \cb2 (Image Source: {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/07/11/6-secrets-retailers-dont-want-to-know/"}}{\fldrslt
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The U.S. Commerce Department\'92s summary of June retail sales is out. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK
"http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/07/16/us-retail-sales-tumble-05-in-june/"}}{\fldrslt \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10
\ul Fox\'92s}} Steve Varney reports, it\'92s not a pretty sight.\
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\b \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \'93Retail sales in June declined 0.5%. Doesn\'92t
sound like very much, but in fact that\'92s a huge decline, and its unexpected. It tells
us that the economy is clearly weakening.\'94 \b0 \kerning1\expnd0\expndtw0 \
\'a0\ June\'92s drop marks the third straight month
of decline for U.S. retailers. Sales in April dropped by 0.5%, while May sales declined
by 0.2%. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.bloomberg.com/video/brusuelas-on-retail-sales-empire-manufacturing-hVhbwsWCTROPns6WG0VyTA.html"}}{\fldrslt \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10
\ul Bloomberg\'92s}} Joe Brusuelas says signs of a weak economy have made consumers much
more cautious in recent months.\ \'a0\
\b \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \'93Problems in Europe and the approaching
quarter-billion in tax hikes scheduled to take effect on January 1st, 2013. If economy
and policy analysts were waiting for the impact of those risks to take effect, they need wait
no longer.\'94 \b0 \kerning1\expnd0\expndtw0 \
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{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-retail-sales-fall-for-third-straight-month-2012-07-16?dist=lcountdown"}}{\fldrslt \cf0 \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10
\ul \ulc0 Marketwatch\'92s}} Jeffrey Bartash believes this latest report is another nail
in the coffin for hopes of an economic recovery.\ \'a0\
\pard\pardeftab720\sl320
\b \cf0 \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \'93Without stronger retail sales, the U.S.
economy cannot expand faster and dramatically lower the nation\'92s high 8.2% unemployment
rate. Retail spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation\'92s economic growth.\'94
\b0 \kerning1\expnd0\expndtw0 \ \'a0\
Retail sales were expected to increase slightly in the wake of plummeting gas prices, which
fell 1.8% this month. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.cnbc.com/id/48194314"}}{\fldrslt
\kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \ul CNBC\'92s}} Steve Liesman points out,
if that extra money for the consumer isn\'92t going back into retail sales, it must be going
somewhere else.\ \'a0\
\b \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 LIESMAN: \'93It looks like the consumer might
be taking this pause, or this extra money that they\'92re getting from gasoline, and
putting it into either paying down their debt, or increasing their savings.\'94
\b0 \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \uc0\u8232
\b \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 ANCHOR: \'93Which isn\'92t necessarily a bad
thing.\'94 \b0 \kerning1\expnd0\expndtw0 \
\'a0\ And while some analysts think these numbers
are a big deal, others say, bigger news is yet to come, in about a month. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK
"http://www.bnn.ca/Home.aspx"}}{\fldrslt \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \ul Business News Network}} explains.\
\'a0\
\b \kerning1\expnd2\expndtw10 \'93It\'92s all clearance, there\'92s no new
product, we\'92re not seeing any trends on pricing. It\'92s hard to read anything out
of July, so I would just say, things are pretty darn tough right now, and the next data point
we get is really back to school sales.\'94 \b0 \kerning1\expnd0\expndtw0 \
\'a0\ Despite falling retail sales figures, a separate
report released today by the New York Federal Reserve reported a higher-than-expected increase
in manufacturing.\ }