Last week we received positive readings for some key economic indicators. But I still see plenty to worry about.

Source: FRED

On Tuesday the Census Bureau announced that U.S. retail and food services sales in August were 2.7% higher than in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. True, 2/3 of the additional $9 billion in spending was attributed to motor vehicles and parts, and September car sales could be much worse than August. Another 1/6 of the new spending came from gasoline stations, and the higher average gasoline prices in August are hardly cause for celebration. But even excluding autos and gasoline, core retail sales were up 0.6% in August. Here's the summary from Stephen Stanley of RBS:

after a string of contractions, these data suggest that consumer demand is, at a minimum, stabilizing. Core retail sales may even

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In the currency market, the dollar got slapped down against the euro. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.3644 vs. $1.3589 on Monday.

The buck is getting hit by the spreading, and probably wishful, thinking that an economic upturn is just around the corner, depriving the currency of its appeal as a safe haven in rotten times.

Many see the decline as short-lived. “We have warned that the current period of vulnerability for the buck could go on for several weeks, but at some point, it will all come back to relative growth rates, which gives the U.S. a distinct advantage over the longer term,” wrote strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman.

The Commerce Department reported that both imports and exports declined in March, with the former exceeding the latter, so that the trade deficit widened by 5.5% to $27.6 billion in March from a nine-year low of $26.1 billion in February.

MarketWatch.com

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In the currency market, the dollar crashed against the euro. Late Friday, the euro was trading at $1.3627 vs. $1.3403 on Thursday.

The Labor Department’s unemployment figures were the most anticipated data of the day, and they came in gloomy indeed.

Labor said that, in April, there were 539,000 jobs lost, while the unemployment rate skied to 8.9%, the highest level in 26 years. Dreadful by any standard, yet it was an improvement, representing an easing in the pace of massive job destruction that had averaged 680,000 over the previous five months.

In addition, job losses for February and March were revised higher by a combined total of 66,000.

“It is a sobering toll,” said President Barak Obama. “We’re still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and will be months or even years in the unmaking; and we should expect further job losses in the months to

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Almost another 700 point loss for the Dow, again!  The U.S. Government is thinking about stealing a move right out of the European Save the Nation playbook.  Buy the Banks.  Something has to be done plus if the government makes money, kick some back to us taxpayers.  Move people Move! Here's the lowdown, if Europe is doing it, so should we, and fast. http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-home-front/2008/10/09/will-the-government-buy-stakes-in-us-banks.html Will the Government Buy Stakes in U.S. Banks? October 09, 2008 03:55 PM ET | Luke Mullins | Permanent Link | Print It wasn't that long ago that the government received sweeping authority to purchase $700 billion of distressed mortgage and other assets. But now the Treasury Department appears increasingly ...