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2023-03-15 22:12:00 ET Summary Retail sales in February dipped 0.4% from the huge spike in January, to $698 billion. So is this tiny dip in February off the huge spike in January a sign that consumers are tapped out? Consumers are still spending like drunken sailors, especiall...
2023-03-10 02:52:00 ET Summary Inflation is not moving down as much as people are anticipating. Labor is showing signs of resilience and strength. The leading indicators are telling us that although things are looking good now, that may not hold up as we get to the back half o...
Summary The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF (XLY) is largely driven by two companies, Amazon and Tesla, which make up a third of the weight and account for half of the risk. Neither Amazon nor Tesla is representative of the consumer discretionary sector. Amazon is m...
Summary As Europe strives to end its reliance on Russian crude oil, the future does not look good for Russia. Sadly, the Biden Administration is still playing politics with our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the wake of stunning January retail sales report, most economists will be ...
Summary Higher inflation and higher interest rates remain a headwind. International stock market indices are doing better than major U.S. stock market indices. There is a case for the continuation of the downtrend or a new uptrend. In this article we will review economic d...
Summary To date, 103 of the 201 companies in our Retail/Restaurant Index have reported their EPS results for Q4 2022, representing 51% of the index. All eyes are on Walmart and Home Depot as they kick off Q4 retail earnings season. Walmart’s e-commerce is expected to grow a r...
Summary The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF is a relatively low-cost (0.10% fees) sleep well at night ("SWAN") fund that can be a shelter-in-the-storm during times of economic & market volatility. That's because the relatively un-glamorous yet defensive-oriented consumer staples compa...
Summary Larger surprises were in vehicle and restaurant sales as economic activity continues to exit the COVID era. Unexpected and significant retail sales gains occurred in vehicle sales and restaurants. Past economies have expanded at much higher rates. Real Retail Sales...
Summary Economists were expecting a sharp recovery in US retail spending in January, but the actual number blew past even the most optimistic forecast. The strength in retail spending and payrolls in January conflicts with a variety of broad business-cycle indicators that reflect a weak...
Summary Only one subsector has a good value score: durables and apparel. Retailing has a good quality score and is moderately overvalued. The less attractive subsector is auto and components. The equal-weight fund Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF has o...