OMG, ISM Service sector reading of 41.9 down nearly 13 points, what does that mean?  Last July, I wrote (Avoid Domestic Service Providers, 7/24/07) with three points:  Expenses rising, revenues falling and the falling dollar.  Today's ISM reading on the service sector zero's in on one of those points - falling revenue. 

The US consumer has met their match, and her name is high fuel costs.  Surprisingly, consumers want to be warm in their home and heating the home has a higher priority than many other things, including Ipods and cell phones, really! 

High fuel cost has a cousin and his name is debt capacity.  Can you believe it, Americans are realizing and by the way not without a great deal of pain and anxiety much of the crap that is produced today is not worth borrowing money for, especially since no one is extending credit.  It is my hypothesis that once the home refinance boon was over, credit card debt started accumulating.  Given this mornings number, many Americans hit their limits and were forced to cut back.  This cut back is not over by any stretch of your imagination.  God help the American economy if Americans discover that they can do without most of the crap they have borrowed money to attain.