Good And Bad News For The Economy [AUDIO]

In the ongoing battle for economic recovery, we won some and we lost some on Tuesday.

The winners were consumers, who during the month of October spent more for trucks, electronics and building supplies. The gains provide an encouraging start for the October-December quarter. They come just as separate reports show that wholesale prices are flattening and U.S. shoppers are spending more at Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer.

The loser was business inventories, which stagnated in September for the first time in almost two years. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that business inventories were unchanged in September after 20 consecutive monthly gains that stretched back to December 2009. Business sales rose 0.6 percent in

September, the fourth consecutive gain. If companies cannot reduce inventory, they do not produce new goods and we do not advance the economy.

Rutgers/Camden School of Business economist Mitchell Koza says the news is certainly a mixed bag, but by and large, the worst news is what Koza calls, "sideways" for the economy, and the good news is 'moderately upward.

He says the economic issues getting the most attention, moving forward, are the European debt crisis and expectations for retalers during the upcoming holiday season.