VCR News and Press, Vanguard Consumer Discretion From 04/15/20

Originally published on April 14, 2020 By Robert Hughes Weekly retail same-store sales data from Johnson Redbook reflect the collapse in retail spending as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. For the week ending April 11, the Redbook same-store sales index tumbled 8.3 percent from the p...

By Jharonne Martis The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has caused many retailers to close their physical stores, causing a sudden increase of excess inventory. Nike (NKE) alone saw an inventory spike of 7% in the fiscal quarter ending February 2020. Retailers are turning to different measures ...

Shares of consumer discretionary stocks including restaurants and other gathering places were rising broadly today. There was no particular news driving up that sector, though these stocks may have benefited from the perception that they're oversold. Today, stocks were generally mixed, unlike m...

"The market is in our view currently pricing a deep recession for the entire year, with no anticipation of light at the end of the tunnel. Reconciling consensus expectations from a bottom-up perspective and the recent price action, which has a more top-down perspective, we believe that the w...

Introduction I have been saying for the past few weeks that the news would outrun the data. That being said, the impact of the coronavirus would first show up in the weekly high frequency indicators. Chain store sales show stockpiling This morning, we got two important reads on chain s...

Cowen warns that the pain in retail isn't just a short-term fear factor that will evaporate easily. More news on: Walmart Inc., Target Corporation, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Consumer stocks news, Stocks on the move, News on ETFs Read more ...

CNBC's Jim Cramer was recently quoted as saying " this should be the beginning of the end for sector ETFs ". While I agree with Todd Rosenbluth's initial response on Twitter , I felt it important to lay out a few facts and lists of sector ETFs highlighting why their importance to investors wi...

As I often note when commenting about consumer related data, the consumer is important due to the fact they account for 70% of economic activity in the U.S. With the current economic cycle the longest on record, the consumer continues to show strength and remain in good financial shape. And ...

Q4 E-Commerce Retail Sales : +2.6 % Q/Q vs. +4.6%  in Q3. More news on: Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF, Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF, News on the U.S. economy, News on ETFs Read more ...

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...