Stimulus Fatigue? Retail Sales Wane at Many Brick & Mortar Stores. Department Stores Progress to Zombiehood. But Online Sales Surge to Record by Wolf Richter • Nov 17, 2020 • 121 Comments My 13 whiplash-charts by retailer category.
How the Pandemic Scrambled Long-Term Driving Patterns: Americans Already Drove Less, Hidden by Population Growth by Wolf Richter • Nov 15, 2020 • 114 Comments Bounce back to what? The Pandemic Scrambled Long-Term Trends in both directions.
State of the American Debt-Slaves, Q3 2020: The Stimulus & Forbearance Phenomenon by Wolf Richter • Nov 7, 2020 • 331 Comments Auto loans jump after historic price spikes. Credit cards still in stimulus wonderland. Student-loan borrowers count on debt forgiveness, mmmkay.
High Times in the Plague Year: Booze & Cannabis Retailers Shine by John McNellis • Oct 31, 2020 • 98 Comments Landlords already know this: People are getting more toasted than Wonder Bread.
Do We Really Need More Stimulus to Print More Millionaires & Billionaires, Enrich Fraudsters, Balloon the Trade Deficit? Consumer Data Says, “No We Don’t” by Wolf Richter • Oct 30, 2020 • 203 Comments People who need support, should get support. As for the rest? On my soapbox, wildly wagging consumer income and spending data.
No, GDP Didn’t Jump “33.1%” in Q3, But 7.4%, after Plunging 9% in Q2: Time to Kill “Annualized” Growth Rates. Imports, Powered by Stimulus, Dragged on GDP by Wolf Richter • Oct 29, 2020 • 67 Comments GDP back to Q1 2018. Worst ever “net exports.” The decline in government spending was also a drag. “GDP per Capita” bounced back only to 2017 level.
Americans Are Super-Gloomy About Holiday Spending, But Industry Ramps Up for Blockbuster Christmas by Wolf Richter • Oct 27, 2020 • 183 Comments Something is afoot here. And someone is going to be wrong.
Down-to-Earth View of the “Recovery” in Near-Real Time, Eight Months into the Pandemic by Wolf Richter • Oct 21, 2020 • 112 Comments As seen by indicators that have sprung up as a result of the Pandemic.
“Creative Destruction” or Just “Destruction?” by Wolf Richter • Oct 21, 2020 • 119 Comments Under the effects of the Pandemic, consumers and businesses grapple with their own “Reset.”
Trucking, Container Carriers, FedEx, UPS, Other Freight Firms Warn of “Capacity Shortage,” Expect Americans to Keep Splurging Despite Jobs Crisis by Wolf Richter • Oct 19, 2020 • 134 Comments Better produce a big-fat stimulus bill pronto and keep eviction bans and forbearance going, or else these companies will face economic reality.