Just as US consumer credit appeared to be normalizing, when it rose by a slightly lower than expected $12.250BN in July (since revised to $14.67), something unexpected happened: according to the latest Fed G.19 statement, in August consumer credit tumbled by $7.2BN, far below expectations of a $14BN increase, and the biggest contraction since May. While non-revolving credit posted one more month of relentless growth, it increased by an unexpectedly weak $2.175 billion to a record $3.159 trillion, suggesting that debt-fueled spending on autos slowed drastically. But the big surprise was the latest revolving credit - ... (full story)