Tematica Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins provides regular insights and musings into today’s markets, economics and politics, while fighting for liberty with great wine & music, scores of stilettos and an excessive love of dogs
This morning an article in Investor’s Business Daily focused on one of our investing themes, the Aging of the Population and its impact on economic growth and certain sectors of the economy. Combining the headwind of a growing portion of the population moving into the sunset years with massive levels of student debt, the housing sector looks […]
The major equity indices are struggling.Today the Nasdaq posted its third consecutive down Today the Nasdaq posted its third consecutive down day after last Friday’s close marked the fourth consecutive down week for the index. This is now its longest losing streak since May 2016 with only one-third of Nasdaq stocks trading above their 50-day moving averages […]
As Tematica’s Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins discussed last Friday on Fox Business’s Varney & Co., who would have thought that in just one week we could experience talk of a nuclear showdown with North Korea, chaos in Charlottesville leading to a brutal murder, an administration becoming increasingly isolated both inside and outside the beltway and yet another terror act in Europe?
Tuesday’s Retail Sales report from the Census Bureau for July surprised to the upside, with stronger than expected motor vehicles and parts sales which were in sharp contrast with the weak sales reported by the auto manufacturers themselves. The report also showed an increase in sporting good sales, which is also in contrast to what […]
On Monday, August 14th I spoke with David Asman and Melissa Francis, hosts of After the Bell on Fox Business, about the recent moves in the market and the discussions around trade relations with China. I pointed out that while trade is often discussed in the media as a transaction in which there is a […]
Thursday the Dow hit its 7th straight record close, despite the news that Special Counsel Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in the Russia election tampering probe. While many are attributing the market’s gains to president Trump’s administration, this divergence calls that into question. As does the reality that President Trump’s approval rating has hit new lows with disapproval ratings reaching new highs while the market has continued to rise.
The recent economic data coupled with what we are hearing this earnings season paint a picture of consumer finances getting seriously stretched. Yesterday we learned that personal income growth stalled out in June, unchanged from May. The 3-month moving average shows slowing in income growth. With the decline in income, we have also seen consumers […]
While D.C. is full of fireworks over health care and Russians, the Treasury is scrambling to pay the bills, yet the markets are peacefully awash in Xanax. The spread between the 6-month and 3-month Treasury bills is now pricing in a potential technical default, but given that the rest of the Treasury market looks unaffected, […]
In this week’s program, Republicans’ repeal and replace of ACA plan falls flat, more data points to slowing economy as market melts higher, why Netflix’s belief that “negative free cash flow will be an indicator of enormous success” is worrisome, despite the focus by Apple and others on mobile payments and our Cashless Consumption thematic investment theme, Alibaba and Tencent are killing it in China, and why Facebook’s latest moves set it apart from other the social media platforms.
Many consumers still have mortgage/home ownership PTSD after the unprecedented pain felt during the financial crisis. The decades of rising rates of homeownership, induced in large part by federal policies and legislation, has mostly been wiped out. This data illustrates how the generations most affected by the financial crisis have shifted to a more asset-light lifestyle. This shift is a tailwind to those companies providing goods and/or services consistent the sharing economy.