Buying Versus Doing

Vincent Catalano
Vincent Catalano • by Vinny Catalano, CFA
Chief Markets Strategist, Stuyvesant Capital Management •

How are consumers spending their cash today? The data seem to support consumers are buying (physical items) versus doing things (like travel).

The recent pop in the stock of Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) highlights aspects of the K economy (some industries doing well, others poorly) in this way. Consider how consumers are spending their cash today. The data seem to support buying things (physical stuff) versus doing things (like travel).

Using Amazon (AMZN) as a proxy for buying stuff versus Marriott (MAR) for in-person doing things, the accompanying chart seems to support this view. And when you do have to do something (like seeing a doctor), you do it virtually e.g. via Teledoc (TDOC). (Or maybe you don't do it at all and save when able or spend it on stuff from places like Bed Bath and Beyond.)

Will this behavior change anytime soon? Highly unlikely. And that's not a healthy nor sustainable thing. Enter more government support.
 

Disclosure:

Accounts managed by Blue Marble Research may presently hold a long/short position in the above mentioned issues and their inverse comparables.

STOCKS IN THIS ARTICLE

TDOCMARAMZNBBBY
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