Stock Market? Everything is Dipping

End of an interesting day. Dow down 3.5%, Nasdaq down 4.7%, and S&P down 4%.

I don’t like the word crash. But the stock market is continuing its downward run.

Seems like lots of bad news is hitting all at once. Target reported bad numbers. Lowes as well. Walmart surprised lower too. All these retailers are suddenly finding it harder to make a good profit. And that has investors worried.

It’s been said that “the consumer” is the backbone of the economy. Yes, the government does its fair share of spending too. But lately, it’s cutting back. The consumer is the one that drives companies to profit. And, I’ve heard it said recently that the consumer is strong.

But now, companies are seeing changes in consumer behavior. Consumers are buying “store brands” instead of name brands. Consumers are leaving the store purchasing fewer items. Consumers are more often using credit to buy things.

Gas prices in the USA are approaching $5 per gallon. I’m old enough that I remember gas being $1 per gallon one summer. In Canada, gas is now firmly above $2 per liter. US inflation is hot, UK inflation is hot, and Canadian inflation is hot.

Suddenly, people don’t want to be invested in retail. That index is down 27% in the past 1 year.

I’m happy to be sitting mostly in cash. It would have been better if I had started this blog (and the push to invest more of my cash) a month later than I did.

I don’t want to look at how much money I lost today…