Consumers Pulling Back

In conversations with my friends who are dentists, they all have seen their practices slow for last three months. 

 

Yet again, we see more evidence of consumers pulling back.  The article in WSJ talks about slowdown in cosmetic surgeries.

  

Now these story confirms there is a slow down in breast-implants, plastic surgeries, and vision-corrections.

 

With food and energy inflating, they are becoming bigger part of consumer expenditures.  On top of that, we have house prices declining.  This is leading consumers to pull back.  Even the consumer index is at it's lowest since 1992.

 

On top of all these issues, we have increses in auto loan delinquencies and also in student loan delinquencies.

 

Credit card companies are raising rates even for those who pay on time.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119707327901017729.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

The slowdown was a hot topic at the meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in Baltimore this fall. One breast-implant maker sees hints of a slowdown in demand. The number of vision-correction surgeries appears to be falling as well. "This whole mortgage credit crisis is making people think twice," said J. Peter Rubin, a Pittsburgh plastic surgeon. "It's something I've noticed and some colleagues have noticed as well."

Brad Tober of Buffalo, N.Y., recently got a notice that Capital One Financial Corp. was replacing the 9.9% fixed rate on his credit card with a variable rate of about 19%. The 21-year-old college student said he hadn't paid a bill late or done anything that he anticipated would lead to a higher rate. A spokeswoman for Capital One attributed the change to "business and economic" factors

Breast jobs and tummy tucks aren't covered by insurance, so patients need a chunk of cash -- or a healthy credit line. So far, the slowdown in some plastic surgeons' offices appears to be affecting big-ticket surgeries rather than less costly procedures such as anti-wrinkle facial injections.

Care Credit has, however, noticed a downturn in another popular procedure -- laser vision-correction surgery. Volume dropped 10% in October, the sharpest decline the firm has ever seen in such procedures, Mr. Testa said.