The holiday season’s good start will continue!

Running Point and its chief investment officer, Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA, were quoted by International Business Times in an article—by Panos Mourdoukoutas, “Holiday Shopping Season Is Off To A Good Start For Brick And Mortar Retailers”—regarding what to expect from U.S. consumers this holiday season.

Shoppers may view this as their last spending spree before the economy possibly heads south and credit disappears!

American consumers have continued to spend throughout 2022 and will continue to do so through this holiday season. Unemployment remains extremely low and wages are up, so even though there may be reasonable recession fears, income is at record levels and some consumers may see this as their last chance for a spending spree before the economy heads south and their credit disappears.

Quoted article excerpts are below:

Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA Partner & Chief Investment Officer of Running Point Capital Advisors thinks consumer spending has been solid throughout 2022 and will stay that way through this holiday season. “We won’t see the record 14% to 17% sales growth of 2021’s holiday season when consumers were flush with pandemic cash and freshly gained stock market wealth, but we should at least see nominal growth of 6% to 8%, which will almost approach the rate of inflation,” he told IBT.

He sees consumer spending getting a boost from high employment and rising wages, though recession fears may temper it. “The main constraint on sales will continue to be from the supply side, not the demand side; big-ticket and semiconductor-intensive items like automobiles, electric vehicles, electronic gadgets, and snowmobiles may be hard to source,” he said.

Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of Running Point Capital Advisors, LLC (Running Point) and are subject to change without notice. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication, may be modified due to changes in the market or economic conditions, and may not necessarily come to pass. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. Running Point is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Running Point’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. RP-22-64