Fed And Markets Excuse Retail Bloodbath – Ep. 248

Summary: The retail sector is in worse shape today than it was in 2008 during and immediately following the financial crisis. Retailing has been responsible for 10% of the jobs gained during this so-called recovery. Clearly part of the problem is the increase in minimum wage.  Why are retailers adding so many jobs when their business is declining?

  • A quick little announcement at the beginning of this podcast; I’m going to try to keep the length of these podcasts down to 20 minutes in the future
  • It seems we have quite a bit of audience falloff after about 17 minutes
  • We’re also skipping our ads at the end in favor of more informative content about Euro Pacific Capital, SchiffGold, Goldmoney and Euro Pacific Bank.
  • So I am going to do these shorter podcasts more frequently
  • First of all, it’s the RetailPocalypse, which I have been talking about on this podcast that, from my perspective – not just my perspective,
  • In reality, the retail sector is in worse shape today than it was in 2008 during and immediately foll0wing the financial crisis
  • We got a lot of bad news from the retailers this week
  • Including JCPenny and Nordstrom’s – horrible sales from these companies
  • We had other retailers earlier in the week that came out with bad news
  • Kohl’s Department Store, Dillards
  • Kohl’s stock is at 36.5 as I record this
  • That stock’s high was $75-$80 in the summer of 2015
  • So it’s down 60% or so
  • Dillard’s is at a 52-week low today, at just under $47
  • That was over $120 – more than a 50% decline
  • Macy’s was down another 3% today – a new 52-week low
  • Macy’s is at $23.60 -it was a $70 stock
  • These are huge markdowns for retail stocks
  • Look at Nordstrom’s – down almost 11% today on the bad news
  • $41.20 – Nordstrom’s was an $80 stock is one of the best performers
  • JCPenny is going to get the prize for the biggest decline overall
  • This stock’s been falling for a long time
  • It closed today at $4.55
  • A lot of people are very complacent – they say, “Oh, it’s no big deal because it’s all about e-commerce
  • Everybody is shopping online
  • Look at Amazon – Amazon stock hit a new 52-week high today
  • All time high, not just a 52-week high
  • Jeff Bezos is on the way to being the richest man in the world