Retail Sales Climb for a Sixth Month but at a Slower Pace Retail sales rose 0.3% in October as consumers increased their purchases modestly in the early weeks of the holiday season.
U.S. retail sales rose in October at their slowest pace since the spring, another sign the nation’s economic recovery is losing steam as coronavirus cases surge across the country.
Consumer-spending data from private companies suggest shoppers turned more cautious this month, too, as last month’s jump in virus cases accelerated in November, prompting some officials to impose new restrictions, mask mandates and other mitigation strategies to slow its spread. (…)
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s tracker of 30 million credit and debit cardholders recorded a 4% decline in spending from a year earlier in the week through Nov. 13. (…)
“Across the country, we’re seeing new cases. We’re seeing hospitalizations rise. And we’re seeing states begin to impose some activity restrictions,” Mr. Powell said during a [Tuesday] virtual question-and-answer session. “The concern is that people will lose confidence in efforts to control the pandemic, and…we’re seeing signs of that already.” (…)
Remarkably, Control Sales, which excludes Motor Vehicles & Parts, Gasoline, Building Materials and Food Services & Drinking Places and which feeds directly into GDP, are up 10.9% YoY.
On a MoM basis, Control Sales have been rising at a 15.7% annualized rate since March 2020, more than 12 times faster than the 1.2% a.r. during the previous 6 months. However, October’s 0.17% crawl suggests exhaustion in either purchasing power or actual need for more goods.
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Retail’s Nightmare Before Christmas Sales are dropping at worst possible time as Covid-19, the calendar and politics point to tough holiday season
(…) In many respects, the weakness in retail sales shouldn’t have been a surprise. Millions of people remain out of work and much of the money the government injected into the economy during the spring’s stimulus rounds has run out. (…)
What makes October’s retail sales slowdown especially worrisome is that it largely happened before the surge in Covid cases now engulfing the nation. (…)
Meanwhile, the chances of a significant stimulus package coming out of Congress before the end of the year look slim. Even if one does get passed, it would likely arrive too late to reinvigorate sales before the holiday shopping season comes to a close. For small retailers already hit hard by the Covid crisis in particular, this could be the last Christmas.
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Walmart’s Sales Gains Slow as Pandemic Drags On The retailer’s comparable sales rose at a slower pace than earlier in the coronavirus pandemic even as shoppers continued to buy up food and cleaning supplies and the company pushed early holiday deals.
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Home Depot Plans Workforce Investment After Strong Quarter
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Year-End Fiscal Cliffs Are Approaching for Millions of Americans
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Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer asked Mitch McConnell to come back to the negotiating table this week, while McConnell stuck to his guns. He reiterated support for a $500 billion package. That’s short of Democrat demands for a $2.4 trillion bill. (Bloomberg)
U.S. Industrial Production Rose 1.1% in October Measure of output at factories, mines and utilities remains 5.6% below where it was in February
Weak Christmas sales would hurt manufacturing early next year.
Europe Car Sales Slide 7.1% on Reimposed Virus Restrictions
New-car registrations dropped 7.1% in October, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said Wednesday. Aside from a small gain in September, sales have been in decline all year and are down 27% through the first 10 months. (…) Sales probably will fall about 5% this quarter and finish the year down at least 25%, analyst Michael Dean wrote in a report Tuesday. (…)
N.Y. BUSINESS LEADERS SURVEY
Activity in the region’s service sector declined at a faster pace than in recent months, according to firms responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s November 2020 Business Leaders Survey. The survey’s headline business activity index fell eleven points to -15.8, its lowest level since August. The business climate index was little changed at -63.1, indicating that the vast majority of firms continued to view the business climate as worse than normal. Employment levels were little changed, and wages increased. Input prices increased at about the same pace as last month, while selling prices held steady. Capital spending fell for an eighth consecutive month. Looking ahead, firms did not expect business conditions to improve, on net, over the next six months.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot is 95% effective, final analysis of trial data showed. That paves the way for the companies to apply for U.S. regulatory authorization within days. (Bloomberg)
U.S. Approves First Self-Testing Kit for Detecting Covid-19
The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization to Lucira Health Inc.’s rapid-result All-In-One Test Kit, according to a statement from the government agency Tuesday.
While some Covid-19 tests allow people to provide samples from home, this is the first that can be fully self-administered and provide results at home in 30 minutes or less. (…)
The Lucira test works by swirling the self-collected sample swab in a vial that is then placed in the test unit. The results can be read directly from the test unit’s light-up display. In addition to home use, the product is also authorized for use in doctor’s offices, hospitals and emergency rooms.
EQUITY VALUATION
Absolute value is tough to find, anywhere one looks:
Thankfully, there is the Fed’s artificially managed bond yields, but for how long now that vaccines are on their way?
Boeing’s 737 Max was cleared for takeoff again. The FAA said it can safely return to the skies with an extensive package of fixes, after 20 months on the ground following two fatal crashes.
Axios informs us that
the exception that keeps platforms from deleting newsworthy, but false, claims by political leaders will go away once he leaves office, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said today while testifying before the U.S Senate. “If an account is not a world leader anymore, that particular policy goes away.”
When is a false claim newsworthy? And why would anybody seek to promote false claims, especially that from a world leader? And repeatedly, for years…? The WaPo is right: “Democracy Dies in Darkness”.