It turns out that regular Americans don’t see a recession in the near future

The Commerce Department data showed that U.S. retail sales jumped up more than expected in July. The data reflects increases across a variety of categories including sporting goods, clothing, restaurants, and bars.

There were signs that this was coming. Amazon’s Prime Day sale last month was the largest on record. Retail sales are an important data point on the real economy, as opposed to the stock market.

This is just the latest data supporting a “soft landing” for the economy, post-Covid.

Reade Pickert wrote for Bloomberg:

The latest data illustrate how American households — supported by a strong labor market and rising wages — are so far buttressing the economy against recession in the face of high interest rates.

Demand looks strong. The labor market is strong. Inflation is flat if not falling. These are excellent signs that the U.S. economy isn’t going to go through the catastrophic recession that was forecast a year ago.

This is important, because as the economy improves, so will investor sentiment. And when people feel safe and wealthy, they invest. 

There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines today, worried about a recession. But as these data continue to paint a healthy economic picture, that money will come back to the stock market and send our shares higher.

That’s great news for New Energy and Spotlight readers because they are prepared to take advantage of that bull market.

For the Good,
Matt Badiali