Despite the current anxiety over the economy some experts suggest the next twelve months may see a drop in consumer spending of only one-half of one percent. Keep in mind, though, that this outlook is for all spending, including food and gasoline which form a large portion of the average household’s budget. It’s not the one-and-a-half to two percent increase that we forecast a year ago, but certainly in line with what we hear from a lot of retailers in the nature products industry. To page 2.