CNN Blames Winter for Slow Economy

ROMANS: "31 days until spring -- 31. But who's counting? In a normal world, right about now we'd be talking about consumer trends for spring, right? For the record, right now it's 90s inspired fashion long skirts and lot's of color. But we're not talking about that. Instead, we're talking about dead flowers and empty store shelves. Here are five signs weather has swallowed the economy. Number one, spring apparel is stuck on shipping containers at the port, or is still en route in trucks. And who cares? What consumers want are boots, and they can't get them. Number two, some factories are shut or are slowing production because they can't get the raw materials. Number three, 1-800-flowers spent the weekend apologizing for delayed flower shipments and candy for Valentine's Day. Just about any company that ships anything is eating the cost of these delays. Number four, consumers are keeping their cold hands in their pockets. Winter storms slammed retail sales, even online sales, too. And number five, Moody's says the jump in heating costs will act as a tax on consumers and slow spending into spring. Take it all together, the Wall Street Journal estimates that this weather will shave 3/10 of a percent off economic growth for the quarter."