Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[ergo sum]

Washington, Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Spending at U.S. retailers declined in September and consumer optimism soured early this month, signs the economy's biggest source of strength may be starting to fade, reports this week are likely to show.

Retail sales probably fell 1.1 percent in September, the first decrease in four months, the Commerce Department will report Friday, based on the median of 44 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. The University of Michigan will probably report the same day that its consumer sentiment index fell this month to 85.2, the weakest since November, the survey showed.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APaAzTBWPUmV0YWls