“Going forward, sales growth will be more modest and inconsistent. Fundamentals are mixed. The biggest drag is high and rising gasoline and other energy prices.”
“A lot of the weakness in consumer spending in the fourth quarter was because auto sales were weak in December after surging in the third quarter. It's important to look beyond auto sales. At least for the first quarter, it's not going to take much for consumer spending to look good.”
“It just suggests that consumers, particularly lower-end consumers, are going to be more stretched when these loans reset, with potentially negative implications for spending growth.”
