Q: What did profit reports, forecasts, and trading activity for Best Buy and Dollar General appear to indicate about the current US economy?
A: The economy appears to be healthy for upper income levels and strained for lower income levels.
Q: Would you pay $42 million for a restaurant with $4 million in sales?
A: The current market value of CAVA restaurant group is $13 billion for 309 restaurants with under $1.3 billion in sales. Some companies appear to be bargains and some companies appear to be over-priced.
Headline Round Up
*Dow Jones Industrial Average Hits Another Record High!
*Exxon Joins OPEC in Warning of Looming Oil Supply Crisis.
*Dallas Lags Behind Nationwide Home Price Increases Over the Past Year: 2.3% vs 6.5%.
*Abercrombie and Fitch Plunges 15% On CEO Warning “Increasingly Uncertain Environment.”
*US Gross Domestic Product Growth Revised Upward to 3% for Q2. Q3 Estimated by Atlanta Fed at 2%.
*Bickering Billionaires: Co-CEO’s Both Resign and Appoint New Co-CEO’s for $60 Billion Two Sigma Hedge Fund.
*Free Electricity? European Power Prices turn Negative due to Wind and Solar Increased Generation Briefly.
*Texas Hit Unofficial Record for Electricity Use Last Week. ERCOT Touts Victory due to Significant Additions of Storage, Solar, Wind, and Additions to Gas Resources.
*Bumper Crops Result in Year Over Year Price Drops -19% to -37% Forcing Growers to Difficult Changes.
*Cheniere Energy Flush with Cash Raises Share Buyback Targets.
*EV Hybrid Share of Market Increased to 19% vs 81% Traditional.
*Closed Nuclear Plant In Michigan Being Brought Back to Life.
*Oops! Wealth Taxes Chases Away Norwegian Billionaires.
*Durable Goods Orders Spiked 9.9% in July.
*Auto Industry EV Retreat Hastens. Losses Hitting Earnings.
*Luxury Watch Prices Have Fallen 9 Quarters in a Row.
*PWC Faces Blowback from Chinese Regulators for Chinese Developers Bust.
*Barron’s Loves Arlington, Texas Based D.R. Horton.
U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure Core Price Index Year over Year (07/31/2018 – 07/31/2024)![](https://b1055373.smushcdn.com/1055373/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PCE-core-vs-headline-8.30.24.jpg?lossy=1&strip=1&webp=1)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Dow Jones Industrial Average (08/31/2023 – 08/30/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Best Buy Co. Inc. Year to Date (12/29/2023 – 08/30/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Dollar General Year to Date (12/29/2023 – 08/30/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Cava Group Inc. (06/14/2023 – 08/30/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Nvidia Corp. Year to Date (12/29/2023 – 08/30/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index – Quarterly Earnings Analysis by Sector (05/16/2024 – 08/15/2024)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
– Courtesy of Bloomberg LP
Profit Report
Uncertainty and Potential Election Volatility?
Raise some cash and pick bargain targets?
The continued evolution of McGowanGroup Wealth Management investment plans.