Credit Loan Deals

The flooding in the midwest has flooded over 1 million acres of farmland.  While this will raise prices for corn and soybeans that will help farmers not in the flooded areas, it will increase feed prices for cows, pigs, and chickens, further raising prices for beef, pork, milk, chicken, and eggs.  The increased prices will continue to increase inflation which is going to give the Fed Chairmen more issues as they will have to debate keeping interest rates low to try and help increase the economy or increasing interest rates to try and fight off inflation which is being fueled by the low dollar, high oil prices, and high corn prices.

For the first month in quite a while a large group of retailers suprised with sales numbers to the upside.  While clothing, and other non-necesssary sales were still down, discounters like Walmart and Costco looked to be doing much better.  Consumers seem to be looking for value and lower price points to stretch their dollar.  May and June are expected to be a litte better as well as the rebate checks should be getting into the consumers hands to give them some extra spending power.

The Federal Reserve reported that consumers increased their borrowing at an annual rate of 7.2%, well above the 3.1% rate in  February.  The gain was larger than expected and shows an increase in borrowing on credit cards and auto loans.  The credit card increases show distressed borrowing by consumers who need cash. 

The DOW has broken through the crucial 13,000 points.  A better than expected round of 1st quarter earnings has given investers a reason to be optimistic about the future of the economy.  The better than expected economic data flowing out has also helped the US dollar jump back up from it’s current long term decline.