Consumer Wants Vs Needs, Recession?

[wheatking16]

One indication of the strength of an economy is consumer spending.

Do the consumers have income for discretionary items?

Do they have the ability to spend on wants after their needs are met?

One measurement method is the Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) vs Consumer Staples ETF (XLP) ratio chart.
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The XLV/XLP ratio chart displays the strengthening of the XLV relative to the XLP in 2023.

The uptrend remains intact above the green 50- Week Moving Average, suggesting consumers continue to be able to spend on wants.

This is one of many indicators used to measure the strength of an economy.
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[Old Cowzilla]

Hi-way steady stream of campers and airport parking lots full. Daughter in retail says they are being run off there feet and short of manpower. Some people don't know times are tuff or didn't get the memo .

[rumrocks]

Credit cards may be putting on a few extra pounds so the wants can continue.

[biglentil]

YOLO!

[shtferbrains]

YOLO!

Might be a large part.

No regrets?

[jazz]

People these days have no sense of responsibility and its a direct result of our govt doing the same thing. Lots of people think they can get a loan for some fun stuff and if it gets repoed who cares, someone else will loan to them. They will never have any equity in their lives so why try.
I just read an article that millenials instead of investing or trying to get some RE together are just getting $1500 a month luxury car payments instead.

[blackpowder]

To be fair, what do we know about living in town on an "average" wage of $60k a year.
Home ownership increasingly a bygone era. Save for a vacay or a car? Borrow for the car always.
Heck, 50% divorce rate means half the men are broke.
Farmers spend more than they think on living. Add every cent. We are unusually lucky.

[biglentil]

There are good kids out there that would give both their nuts to own some acres and some iron and farm. To be fair to start from nothing and achieve that today is next to impossible. $4000acre+ land prices, sky high iron and unserviceable interest rates have become serious barriers to entry. The best they can hope for is to run over a large corporate farms acres in someone else's equipment, and haul in someone else's grain for $25 an hour.

They are taxed before they earn it, taxed before they buy it, taxed when they sell it and at the end of the fiscal year taxed again. Saving for a down payment on a million dollar quarter with today's cost of living, good luck.

Neofeudalism is much closer than we think, if not here already. There won't be much push back to outright nationalization to land ownership when the huts and a few mega corporate farms have consolidated it all. Sad when you think our ancestors left the ole country with the dream of land ownership only to have it all happen again to their future generations.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Heck, 50% divorce rate means half the men are broke.

I just heard this stat explained the other day. Well it's true that more than half of marriages end in divorce, it is not true that half of men will get divorced. As it turns out, the same people get multiple divorces while the majority of marriages do remain together.

[blackpowder]

Fair enough, and a US stat.
But still 40% for first timers.
Canada lower.
Shows how statistics can be morphed to say what you want.
Can't imagine doing that more than once.
My brother is and he will retire penniless. My advice was live for today. His worrying about money he'll never have is ruining his life.
Which comes back to the thread perhaps. Some of the happiest people I know are poor. My original point was Judge Not.

[blackpowder]

People these days have no sense of responsibility and its a direct result of our govt doing the same thing. Lots of people think they can get a loan for some fun stuff and if it gets repoed who cares, someone else will loan to them. They will never have any equity in their lives so why try.
I just read an article that millenials instead of investing or trying to get some RE together are just getting $1500 a month luxury car payments instead.

It is a result of either always, or never having it. Or feeling so.
Human nature and everything repeats.
A 3rd and 4th gen op nearby literally spits on it's money before tossing it out. A total disrespect of money.
People spend money on drugs and make it selling them.
Blaming govt, while we're the ones wanting more free stuff, is a cop out.
"Why try" is a point I don't agree with but certainly understand.

[checking]

I just heard this stat explained the other day. Well it's true that more than half of marriages end in divorce, it is not true that half of men will get divorced. As it turns out, the same people get multiple divorces while the majority of marriages do remain together.

First marriage. No pre-nup. Half split.
Second marriage. No pre-nup. Half split.
Third relationship. Asked, "Are you going to have a pre-nup, this time?"
Reply, "Why would I want half her shit".