Christmas is still nearly seven weeks away, and already the media are offering a “Bah, Humbug” for retail sales and the U.S. economy.

CNN shoveled coal at the positive economic news on November 2 and immediately moved into full Grinch mode.

“You know, just earlier this week the broadest measure of the economy, Kyra, the GDP, came in at 3.9 percent, stronger than expected. What’s working against it, though, the financials, concerns that we’re going to have a lot more carnage coming from that very important sector, consumer spending …” said “Newsroom” correspondent Susan Lisovicz.

On September 24 of this year, Alexis Christoforous of “CBS Morning News” warned, “It could be a blue Christmas for many of the nation’s retailers.”

See YouTube video after the jump.

No matter what the housing market does – whether it trends upward or trends downward – either way, it is bad for economy.

That’s the CBS take on the economy anyway. “The prices of homes are falling and there is more evidence tonight that those counting on their houses as their nest eggs may be in trouble,” said Russ Mitchell on the August 26 “Evening News.”