NYTIMES NEGATIVELY SPINS CHRISTMAS RETAIL NUMBERS

REUTERS:

U.S. specialty apparel retailers saw sales rise 3.6 percent in holiday shopping, at the lower-end of expectations, according to data released on Tuesday by SpendingPulse. ... "It's more at the lower end of the expected range but more or less in line with the reduced expectations coming into the holiday season," Michael McNamara, vice president of Research and Analysis for MasterCard Advisors, said.

NOT BAD: IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS, AND MORE THAN LAST YEAR.

AP:

Just weeks ago, the holiday shopping season seemed headed for disaster. But in the waning hours before Christmas, the nation's retailers got their wish -- a last-minute surge of shopping that helped meet their modest sales goals, according to data released late Monday by research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp.

And with post-Christmas shopping to come, some malls and stores were downright optimistic.

... ShopperTrak said late Monday that total sales on Saturday reached $9.36 billion, up a robust 7.6 percent from $8.7 billion on the same day a year ago. That surge will put stores on track to at least meet its forecast of a 3.6 percent sales gain for the season, according to ShopperTrak.

For the Friday through Sunday period, total retail sales soared 18.7 percent from the year-earlier period, though the increase was inflated because Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday a year ago, according to ShopperTrak. Dollar figures were not available for this past weekend.

Scott Krugman, a spokesman at NRF, noted that the season is turning out as expected: The final days before Christmas and the week after Christmas ''determine the holiday season.''

He expects total holiday sales will meet NRF's growth forecast of 4 percent.

NOT BAD: IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS, AND MORE THAN LAST YEAR.

THEN THERE THE NYTIMES: Disappointing Sales During Holiday Season - By MICHAEL BARBARO

American consumers, uneasy about the economy and unimpressed by the merchandise in stores, delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected, if not feared, according to one early but influential projection.

Spending between Thanksgiving and Christmas rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest performance in at least four years, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. By comparison, sales grew 6.6 percent in 2006, and 8 percent in 2005.

• THIS HIT-PIECE ON RETAIL BY BARBARO IS AN OBJECT LESSON IN NEGATIVE SPIN.

• NOTE: ALL OF BARBARO'S ARTICLES ON RETAIL FOR THE NYTIMES FOR THE LAST MONTH HAVE BEEN NEGATIVE.

• ALL IT PROVES IS THAT BARBARO KNOWS HOW TO GET FRONT PAGE INK AT THE NYTIMES: PLEASE KELLER AND PINCH: GO NEGATIVE ON AMERICA.

THE REAL STORY IS THAT DESPITE HIGH ENERGY COSTS, A RELENTLESSLY NEGATIVE MSM SPIN

• ON THE IRAQ WAR,
• AND ON GLOBAL CLIMATE,
• AND THE ECONOMY,
• AND INTERNATIONAL REGARD FOR THE USA,
• AND ON PRIVACY ISSUES, ETC:

THE US CITIZEN IS IN A GOOD HOLIDAY GIFT-GIVING MOOD.

YUP: DESPITE THE NAY-SAYING FROM THE LEFT, THE AMERICAN SPIRIT PREVAILS AGAIN.

BOTTOM-LINE: THE NYTIMES IS TO CHRISTMAS RETAIL SALES WHAT HARRY "WE'VE LOST" REID IS TO THE SURGE.