Consumer spending on manufactured goods rose for the second consecutive month in September, up 0.3 percent compared to a 0.5 percent gain in August. Compared to September of last year, spending is down 0.7 percent.

After being flat in August, spending on durable goods increased 0.4 percent in September. Within the sector, spending on transportation equipment cooled to 0.1 percent in September from 1.4 percent the prior month. At the same time, spending including household durables gained 1.0 percent, offsetting a 2.5 percent drop in September, with gains coming for computers, communication equipment and furniture.

Spending on energy increased 0.5 percent in September after a 0.1 percent decline the previous month due to gas consumption and higher process for unleaded gasoline.

As a result of the increased energy prices, overall spending rose 0.3 percent in September after a 0.2 percent rise in August.

Today's results are cautiously positive, with spending on high-value goods rising for two months. Even though consumers spend more on energy, some of the components of that were discretionary, which indicates they're more willing to loosen the purse strings.

Consumption of manufactured goods by consumers is an indicator of consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are released separately as part of the report on total goods spending.

This indicator is a measure of retail sales and is unique to France. It measures consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are seasonally and workday adjusted. These adjustments eliminate the fluctuations that are solely due to changes in the number of working days. The data appear to be particularly sensitive to the number of worked Saturdays. With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being.

The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.

Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.