VCR News and Press, Vanguard Consumer Discretion From 02/18/20

The stock market is becoming increasingly disconnected from underlying main street reality. Corporate profits have been declining since the third quarter of 2018. However, pre-tax corporate profits have been declining since Q3 2014 (this data is available on the St. Louis Fed FRED website). Re...

Real retail sales continue flat in January; production sector still in recession Retail sales increased nominally by +0.3% in January, while December was revised downward by -0.1%, for a net gain of +0.2%. Since consumer inflation increased by +0.4% during those two months, real retail sal...

By Robert Hughes Retail sales and food services spending rose 0.3 percent in January following a 0.2 percent gain in December. Over the past year, total retail sales and food services were up 4.4 percent through January. Excluding the volatile energy category, retail sales and food servi...

By Jharonne Martis The coronavirus crisis in China has added new concerns for U.S. retailers. First, it was the tariff war, now it's the infectious disease that has affected tens of thousands, prolonged store closures in China and affected retailers' revenue. The outbreak has put pressur...

The lull in US consumer spending on goods has reached a fifth month. The annual comparisons aren't good, yet they somewhat mask the more recent problems appearing in the figures. According to the Census Bureau, total retail sales in January rose 4.58% year-over-year (unadjusted). Not a good nu...

By Jill Mislinski The Census Bureau's Advance Retail Sales Report for January was released on Feb. 14. Headline sales came in at 0.26% month-over-month to one decimal and were at the Investing.com forecast. Core sales (ex Autos) came in at 0.29% MoM (to two decimals). Here is the introdu...

By Jill Mislinski Note: With the release of December Retail Sales and the Consumer Price Index, we've updated this commentary to include the latest Real Retail Sales. Official recession calls are the responsibility of the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, which is understandably va...

Jefferise thinks consumer discretionary stocks will outperform staples this year off a favorable macroeconomic backdrop and increase in the gap between Treasury yields and dividend yields. More news on: Starbucks Corporation, Energizer Holdings, Inc., Eldorado Resorts, Inc., Consumer stock...

By Jharonne Martis Looking back at the decade of the "teens," a significant number of U.S. retailers closed their doors, while others consolidated. Traditional retailers have been struggling. Spending has shifted to online retailers, local and organic businesses and groceries, and shoppers...

U.S. consumers are setting more holiday shopping set records, as job growth and fatter wallets, along with stronger household finances, have put many in a buying mood this season. More news on: Walmart Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Costco Wholesale Corporation, Consumer stocks news, News on the ...