Morning Stock Talk - Battipaglia: Consumer is impatient and frustrated

"There was a hope that the consumer would start to contribute to growth in the economy. That's not happening," says Joe Battipaglia, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus. Battipaglia tells Andrew O'Day "the consumer is showing evidence of impatience, frustration, and the ongoing weight that's holding them back as it relates to jobs and the lack of job creation." He says strong earnings from several retail chains cannot counter the gloom today, because "the earnings have come about by their adroitly cutting back on inventories, getting rid of excess space and unfortunately lowering their headcount which feeds into the lack of consumer confidence."

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