- Consumer spending fell in July to a 0.3% pace on a tail-off in demand for non-durable goods.
- Still, many analysts, including Stifel Nicolaus Chief Economist Lindsay Piegza, think that consumer spending will be relatively strong in Q3.
- "American consumers appear to have loosened their purse strings amid a heightened appetite for goods and services, at least for now," notes Piegza in analysis made available to Seeking Alpha.
- The steady gains in consumer spending stand in contrast to the tight business investment patterns which could whip around to impact wages in the future.
- "There is little hope of a near-term bounce in compensation as a result of a tight labor market, " notes Piegza.
- Consumer discretionary ETFs: XLY, XRT, VCR, RTH, RETL, FXD, FDIS, RCD, PEZ, PMR, PSCD, JHMC, CNDF.