SavingsRate

The news from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis was mixed Wednesday. Consumer spending rose in October, but just barely. Incomes were up a bit, but savings did too. And employment figures were just conflicted.

Retail sales appear to be on the upswing lately. But where is the money coming from? Unfortunately, it seems to be coming from rising credit use and diminished saving. That's not exactly the formula for a consumer-led recovery.

Americans are saving more of their earnings than they have in years, and that's a good thing. But unfortunately, we're not being rewarded for it the way we were in flusher years. By now, everyone has heard about the government's unprecedented actions to drop interest rates to historic lows so...

Six months ago, the country's saving rate was 0.8%, meaning the typical American saved $8 of every $1,000 of after-tax income. Now, it has more than quadrupled, to 3.6%, so we now save $36 of every $1,000. That's still nowhere near the 50% savings rate in China but, according to American...

Frustrated with poor returns from the stock market, investors are increasingly turning to a conventional strategy that can promise security at 0 percent interest rates. I am talking about piggy banks. Toys R Us Trends 2008 Toys R Us has identified five trends for hot holiday toys, and...

You would think that a country with the lowest savings rate amongst all of the other industrialized nations of the free world would do more to encourage its citizens to save money. After the US Treasury Department's announcement of higher I bond rates on November 3, you start to ask yourself:...