The numbers are not looking good for the last Friday of the month. Orders for U.S.-made durable goods slumped by over 10 percent in January, reports Reuters. And USA Today reports that average family income declined between 2001 and 2004.

First the durable goods: It's not a great result and the core number is fairly flat but the big fall is the Boeing effect. Aircraft are so volatile and so large a component of the number that they can cause that drop all by themselves. But without the planes there was a very slight rise.

Even with that rise, though, last year's predictions that business spending was likely to replace faltering and debt-ridden consumers to keep the economy afloat aren't really happening just yet.

The Fed's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances shows that incomes for the bottome 40 percent fell since 2001 and the wealthiest Americans got wealthier. Part of that was the stock market collapse, which saw small investors burned and withdraw from the market. But real wages also fell in the period.

The numbers now are a little better for average income but this is more and more looking like the 1920s where flat tax rates and easy regulation of business led to increasing disparity of incomes despite a strong economy.

Of course, one very obvious impact is that more and more businesses are chasing the luxury market. Exhibit number one: The Strip. In the last two decades the Strip has gone from being a bargain holiday to being a luxury resort - think Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian, not to mention the coming attractions like Echelon Place and MGM's CityCenter. It's just the market responding to the new demands of the wealthy.