"Retail Sales Surge"

"Retail Sales Surge" is part of the Yahoo news title today. Here's the real news buried in the same article:

Half of the November increase in retail sales came from a big jump in gasoline pump prices and therefore was not seen as a sign of strength in
consumer demand. But there were widespread gains across a number of other areas from department stores to appliance and furniture stores.

Here's another logical gem:

The stronger-than-expected gain in retail sales should ease worries that the country could be in danger of tumbling into a full-blown recession.

I guess this is because sales came in at twice analyst expectations:

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales jumped by 1.2 percent last month, double the gain economists had expected. It
was the biggest increase in six months and followed a much weaker 0.2 percent rise in retail sales in October.

The only conclusion left to make is that since their argument against recession doesn't hold water, there must be 100% chance of recession next year.

In other news, the credit crunch is alive and well. Libor spreads haven't responded to the Central Banks. Libor Spread:
Today: 78 bips, 1-month ago: 15 bips, 3 months: 50 bips, 6 months: 7, 1 year: 10.
The central bank threw down pocket aces, yesterday, and so far the credit monster is calling their bluff.