Well it could be indicative of a crisis fomenting overseas. The two obvious trouble spots are China and Europe. The Chinese have questionable economic statistics (gathering accurate statistics was never easy to begin with), and who knows what's happening in Europe. One way to get a gauge on things is to measure the inputs, i.e. consumption.
The billion dollar question for those of us living in the U.S. is, if there is a problem, will it spread?
The billion dollar question for those of us living in the U.S. is, if there is a problem, will it spread?