You down with GDP?

It's a rainy day here on the Outer Banks. Hopefully the rain will move out in time to salvage a sunny Labor Day weekend for all of our tourists! The rain has ushered in a surge in the stock market. The economy seems to be doing better and jobless claims are down! You down with GDP, yeah you know me? Sorry. A random rap reference will act as a prelude to some good news on GDP. The good ole GDP increased at a rate of 3.3% for the period of April-June. The weak dollar helped boost US Exports thus helping that number rise above economist’s expectations of 2.7%. Even better than all of that, 3.3% is the best GDP number we've seen since Q3 last year when it was 4.8%.The Dow rose 150.96 points as a result of the good news! Can I get an Amen?!

On to jobless claims. The number of claims for people seeking unemployment assistance fell for the 3rd straight week. Claims in excess of 400,000 signals a weak economy. Currently we are right at 425,000. Weak. That's all I have to say about that. Sears isn't so happy this morning. It seems their Q2 sales are down by 62%! Ouch! Personally I think the "Big K" drags them down. I don't know about your K-Mart but ours is severely lacking in a lot of areas! On the upside, I believe us to be one of the only K-Marts in the country with a live band. Yeah, it's scary. Sears is blaming tools and home goods for the decrease in sales. Sure...jump on that band wagon! They plan on reducing their domestic inventory to solve the issue. Do I smell a sale? Maybe the Big K will bring back the blue light specials! They really should. Lights, buttons and whatnot intrigue people that would otherwise be wandering aimlessly around the store.

Our new friend Gustuv has managed to drive oil prices back up to $120 a barrel. Currently Guvvy has sustained winds of 70mph. So do most politicians? What does it all mean? Can't be sure. I think it means we are in for higher gas prices and more rhetoric. Should be use to that by now. Here's a bit of interesting info. Did you know that on average, people in Philadelphia leave the highest tips? Yup! Their average tip is around 19.6% while the rest of the country leaves only 19%. My Dad longs for the days when 15% was acceptable. He feels pressured to conform to the new 20% rule. I assure you he's not one bit pleased. Perhaps he should move to LA where the average is 18.4%! Shame on you LA LA Land! I'm jumping over to Hollywood to see what those non-tippin movie stars are up to.

Don't shake the Juice! OJ that is. Seems OJ's eldest daughter got into a fight with his girlfriend. Low and behold the Juice was knocked to the ground by his own kin! I think they call this...justice. Lindsey Lohan's Daddy has done it again. He's been running off at the mouth about her relationship with Sam Ronson. Lindsey fired back (on her blog) telling Daddy if he has something to say he should say it to her face. Excuse me! NBC has apologized to Matthew Mitcham for failing to recognize his Gold Medal achievement in diving. Matthew is an openly gay athlete in case you were looking for a motive. Maybe they were just busy watching Mr. Phelps clean house. Not. He dove AFTER Phelps made his clean sweep. Shame on you NBC!

Have a great day!