16 Quotes by Scott Hoyt

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.

They're moving away from bank cards and credit cards -- short-term installment debt -- into various forms of mortgage borrowing with lower interest rates and long terms.

Consumer spending is likely to become much more dependent on jobs and confidence by the third quarter, ... If labor markets have not turned, boosting confidence by then, the risk of a significant slowing in consumer spending will be very high.

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.

Clearly, malls continue to struggle. Consumers are focused on easy in and easy out.

If consumer spending falls, the probability of the economy slipping back into recession is very high.

The last week or two of the season can make or break it.