Spending on guns, ammo, and other sporting goods rose about 10% during the last 12 months.
May 10, 2011
Consumers and Investors Seek Protection With Guns and Gold
by Eric Fry
Daily Reckoning
Even after last week’s steep selloff in the commodities markets, the “Flight to Safety” trade is still on…big time. Gold may have retreated from its all-time high, but applications to purchase a handgun continue soaring to record levels.
According to the FBI, background-check applications for handgun buyers are on a record-setting pace so far this year. “In this year’s first quarter,” Bloomberg News reports, “the FBI’s Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 4.25 million requests on prospective gun buyers – up 16% from a year earlier.” If the current pace continues, the number of “gun checks” would hit a seventh straight annual record.
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Meanwhile, Wal-Mart CEO, Mike Duke, observes that the retail giant’s “core shoppers” are “running out of money much faster than a year ago.” Since many of Wal-Mart’s core shoppers live paycheck to paycheck, they typically do most of their shopping at the beginning of the month…and less of it at the end. “Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month, even more than last year,” Duke says. “This end-of-month [purchases] cycle is growing to be a concern.”
The full article, and more charts, are available here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/fry7.1.1.html
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