Americans Increase Retail Spending in October

U.S. consumers spent more money at online stores such as Amazon and electronics and appliance stores, as retail sales rose sharply for the second straight month. Sales at U.S retailers increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in October, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That follows a strong 1.1% surge in September.

The pace of sales in October suggests the fourth quarter got off to a good start since consumer spending accounts for the bulk of U.S. economic growth. If the level of spending is similar in November and December, the economy would likely grow faster than the third-quarter rate of 2.5%.

The data isn't adjusted for prices, but economists expect no monthly change in consumer prices during October. The consumer price index is due for release Wednesday.

Other data on Tuesday also suggest further improvement in the U.S. economy. Wholesale prices eased 0.3% — the biggest drop in more than a year and a half — and a survey of manufacturing executives turned positive for the first time in six months. See story on producer prices.

Millan Mulraine of TD Securities said "the economy appears to be clearly on the right track and moving in the right direction."

Yet economists also point out that consumers have reduced their savings to finance their most recent purchases. Unless wages rise or companies hire more rapidly, consumer spending probably cannot sustain its recent pace.

"Consumers, which account for 71% of the economy, continue to spend," said BMO senior economist Jennifer Lee. "That's great news for growth, but where they're getting the money to spend is a little concerning."

Auto sales, meanwhile, contributed a much smaller portion of retail sales in October than they did in September. Auto-related sales rose 0.4% last month after a 4.2% spike in September.

Excluding the auto sector, retail sales rose 0.6% in October. Auto sales can swing sharply from month to month and mask underlying retail trends.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected retail sales to rise a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, or a scant 0.1% minus autos.

The biggest increase in retail sales took place among electronics and appliance stores. Sales jumped 3.7%, the fastest rate in almost two years.

Sales at nonstore retailers — Internet companies and mail-order catalogs — rose 1.5%. That was the biggest increase since January.

Sales also rose 1.5% among do-it-yourself and garden stores, 1.1% for grocery stores and 1.3% for shops that sell sporting goods, books and music.

Consumers were able to increase their spending on discretionary items partly because they had to spend less on fuel to drive to nearby stores. Gasoline stations reported a 0.4% decline in sales.

Americans also spent less at department stores (-1.2%), clothing stores (-0.7%) and home-furnishing stores (-0.7%).

Overall retail sales are 7.2% higher compared to one year ago, and they have increased 7.6% in the past three months.

Oil Price Flirts with $100 per Barrel

Oil prices climbed to near $100 per barrel Tuesday following a series of positive reports about the U.S. economy.

In midday trading benchmark crude rose 36 cents to $98.50 per barrel in New York. Crude jumped as high as $99.34 at one point. Brent crude, which is used to price many foreign oil varieties, rose 45 cents to $112.34 per barrel in London.

Prices jumped after the U.S. said that consumer spending rose in October for the fifth straight month. Spending increased for electronics, appliances, hardware and building supplies. Sales also rose at grocery stores, bars and restaurants and health care stores. Inflation eased last month, as companies paid less for gas, new cars and other goods.

The European Union also said that the 17-nation bloc avoided contracting in the third quarter. The eurozone economy grew by 0.2 percent in the July-September period. However, it's still expected to fall into recession as countries like Italy and Greece cut spending to reduce debt.

Meanwhile, retail gasoline prices in the U.S. slipped less than a penny to a national average of $3.41 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline prices are about 52 cents higher than the same time last year.

In other energy trading, heating oil was essentially flat at $3.1562 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose 3 cents to $2.5678 per gallon. Natural gas fell 2 cents to $3.582 per 1,000 cubic feet.

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (VSTA) Represents Growing Field of Cell-Based Therapy

Few would dispute the fact that more progress has been made in medicine and the overall science of healthcare in the past century than in all of the previous centuries put together. If there's a focal point for this ongoing revolution, it's the increasing ability to treat disease at the cellular and even molecular level, often through tapping the patient's own unique cellular powers for regeneration and combatting disease. Working in this field requires dealing with biochemical complexities that were unimaginable a few decades ago, and can involve huge up-front investments of time and money, but the potential applications are almost endless.

However, in the case of VistaGen Therapeutics, the ability to work directly with human cells offers a way for pharmaceutical companies to save money while risking less of it. VistaGen has developed a way to use advanced stem cell technology to generate human cell based bioassay systems that allow new drug candidates to be effectively tested for possible toxicity without having to expend the volumes of money and effort required to take a drug all the way to human clinical trial. It's a highly accurate and economical way to identify problems early on, in addition to making it feasible to cost-effectively develop non-toxic drug variants, so that promising drugs aren't shelved unnecessarily.

This superior method of drug toxicity testing, not to mention the thousands of other advancements that have already taken place as a result of new stem cell discoveries, will potentially enable even greater strides in medicine over the next century. Notable publicly traded companies using stem cell and associated technologies for the rapid advancement of health care include the following:

• Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM) uses ixmyelocel-T, a patient-specific multicellular therapy, which draws on the human body's own healing powers, to help people with severe chronic cardiovascular disease.
• Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTCBB: ACTC) applies stem cell based technologies in the field of regenerative medicine.
• BioTime, Inc. (AMEX: BTX) develops and markets products and technologies in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, including proprietary ACTCellerate™ cell lines, culture media, and differentiation kits.
• Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTX) focuses on regenerative medicine, with products for the cosmetic and reconstructive, cell banking, research, and various disease markets.
• Bacterin International Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: BONE) is a developer of anti-infective coatings for medical applications and bone graft materials.
• Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTI) develops placenta-based cell therapies to treat a variety of local and systemic inflammatory diseases.
• Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) uses differentiated human embryonic stem cells to develop biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases.
• Neuralstem, Inc. (AMEX: CUR) has a patented technology that can produce neural stem cells of the human brain and spinal cord in commercial quantities, and also has a cell therapy platform for targeting central nervous system conditions.
• Neostem, Inc. (AMEX: NBS) is accelerating proprietary cellular therapies, and becoming a single source for collection, storage, production, development and transportation of cells for cell-based medicines and regenerative science.
• ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd. (OTCBB: IMUC) harnesses the body's immune system for therapies against a variety of cancers.
• VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB: VSTA), in addition to developing human pluripotent stem cell-based bioassay systems, focuses on using its unique stem cell technologies for cell therapy and regenerative medicine, such as repairing, replacing, or restoring damaged tissues or organs.

For additional information on VistaGen Therapeutics and its stem cell-based bioassay systems, visit the company's website at www.VistaGen.com