From Singapore’s Business Times – 29 Dec 2011:

“US: Stocks open higher after encouraging jobs data.”

And still another headline seen in the Business Times:

“US jobless claims confirm improving labor market.”

Even the usually reliable Mike Wackett of Containerization International was citing:

“Seasonal cheer from US consumers.”

Maybe those overseas journalists should take a closer look. Maybe they shouldn’t be reading the glowing reports that are being cooked up by the controlled U.S. news media.

Back at the ranch though, things aren’t all that rosy. The newspapers have been telling us how much more spending was done over this holiday season, but they were lying again. They were feeding spinnage to those Dr. Walter Williams likes to call “gullible Americans”.

Edward Lampert is a man who pretty much knows what’s really going on. He’s the chairman of Sears/K-Mart, and his Christmas was not at all merry. On the 27th, two days after the Christmas rush, Mr. Lampert announced plans to shut down about 120 locations after a sharp drop in sales during the holiday shopping season.

Declining sales, including poor results through the all-important holiday shopping season has forced his hand. The nation’s fourth-largest retailer announced that it intends to shut down major Sears and K-Mart stores, admitting that its fourth-quarter net earnings will be less than half of last year’s $ 933 million.

The newest store closings follow four store closings in the first quarter of this fiscal year and 29 closings this past August.

Credit-Suisse analyst Gary Butler has stated that softer-than-expected holiday sales performances indicate “deepening problems at this struggling chain and renewed worries about Sears survivability.”

Let’s see now. Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Linens n’ Things, Circuit City, Saturn, Saab, United Airlines and a whole mess of big names have “gone south” in this 21st century depression, yet the brainwashing media passes over the debacle – and insists that things are getting better and better.

And now Sears and K-Mart are tottering. A sure sign of a continuing “recovery”. Right?