Consumer confidence rebounded slightly this month, according to the Conference Board, which has the uncanny ability to take good news and make it bad. "The moderate improvement in the short-term outlook was the result of a decrease in the percent of consumers expecting business and labor market conditions to worsen, as opposed to an increase in the percent of consumers expecting conditions to improve," said economist Lynn Franco, who must be a lot of fun at a holiday party. Consider this sentence from the Board's press release: "The labor market outlook was also slightly less pessimistic." They could have easily said the outlook was "slightly more optimistic."
*****
Home prices in San Diego rose in September for the fifth consecutive month, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. That's better than home prices nationwide, which have increased for four months in a row. "We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months. However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months," said S&P economist David Blitzer. Gee, I wonder if he hangs out a lot with Lynn Franco. There are two economists who always see the glass half empty.
*****
There's an interesting coffee brewing. Earlier this month Peet's Coffee & Tea made an offer to buy Diedrich Coffee at $26 a share. Diedrich, which sold its coffee shops to Starbucks last year, makes pods that are used in single-cup brewing machines. It also owns Gloria Jean's and Coffee People retail outlets. Now, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has entered the fray, offering $30 a share for Diedrich, which prompted Peet's to raise its bid to $32. The directors at Diedrich are reviewing both offers, which means they are waiting for an even higher bid. By the way, Diedrich's stock closed yesterday above $33 a share. That's quite a bit higher than where it began the year: 36 cents.
*****
Best Buy is out with a preview of its Black Friday deals and topping the list is a Hewlett-Packard laptop computer for just $197. Take that, Wal-Mart. Best Buy will open its store at 5 a.m. on Black Friday and its ad, which will be in the newspapers on Wednesday and Thursday, is already posted on its Web site.
*****
Despite a number of bleak holiday sales forecasts, a new report is suggesting that men plan to spend big bucks this year, both for the people on their gift lists and themselves. According to Break.com, 50 percent of men plan to spend the same amount or more this year and 53 percent plan on buying themselves a gift this year. Retailers like it when men shop because 65 percent of the guys surveyed said they are not bargain hunters and will pay full price for holiday gifts.
*****
There's a new addition to the Viejas Outlet Center today. A new 12-lane boutique bowling center, featuring a microbrew bar and other amenities, will open. Bowling is the favorite pastime for a lot of Gen-Xers. The Morengo Indian casino in Cabazon also recently opened a bowling facility.
Print
E-Mail
