Off The Net For An Hour -- Off To Target To Buy Orange Juice -- August 23, 2021

Tipping point: the optics suggest the Covid-19 pandemic hype has peaked. At least in America. Saw it "in spades," as they used to say, all over the networks yesterday while surfing through sports. Speaking of which, I missed the end of the NASCAR race -- I went swimming -- who won?  [Spoiler alert: in order, top five: R. Blaney, W. Byron, K. Larson, K. Bush, and D. Hamlin. What I did watch was so enjoyable; so much better than the "fake" NFL pre-season games. Wow, talk about boring.]

But I digress.

The tea leaves suggest the Covid-19 pandemic hype has peaked. Another example, from Yahoo!

Delta might be hitting economic growth. Retailers aren't feeling the pinch.

Last week, two main stories featured prominently for markets and the economy: data showing the economic recovery slowing down and retailers reporting blowout second quarter results. ‌

In the Morning Brief last week, we covered a slowing housing market, economists cutting their forecasts for GDP growth, and more commentary about the idea of "peak growth" in this recovery cycle. All of which followed an August 13 report on consumer sentiment that revealed a shocking drop in confidence in the early part of this month amid the spread of the Delta variant, and a pickup in inflation. ‌

In the background of these developments, the stock market wavered. But a rally on Friday left the S&P 500 roughly unchanged on the week, and within shouting distance of record highs. And a quick glance at my colleague Brian Sozzi's reporting gives us a window into the kinds of results retailers churned out that helped buoy investor confidence.

‌ The week began with Walmart's earnings beating expectations, as executives told the Street the Delta variant wasn't changing consumer behavior. Target followed with a blowout quarter, and commentary that traffic to its stores hadn't been slowing down in recent weeks.

‌ But even as last week's earnings rush moved away from bellwethers like Walmart and Target, the news remained upbeat. ‌

TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, reported second quarter sales that beat estimates, and said sales have been "very strong" in the early part of the third quarter. Results from Foot Locker also topped expectations, with the company reporting same-store sales that rose nearly 7%, against Street estimates for a more than 1% drop in the second quarter. ‌

Even Macy's, which has been a laggard in the retail space for years, reported a blowout quarter while raising its full-year guidance. It also reinstated its dividend after having cut that payout to preserve cash during the early days of the pandemic. Delta might be hitting economic growth. Retailers aren't feeling the pinch.

Much more at the link. ‌