🏷️ US Consumers Show Signs Of...?

Good morning. US stock futures rose in Thursday morning trading as fourth quarter earnings continue to roll out.

🛒 Holiday sales jump sparking 2024 consumer optimism

📝 Our report: ‘Twas the season for splurging! Despite the holiday price rollercoaster, festive shoppers jingled their wallets and boosted sales by 3.8% year over year, hitting a whopping $964.4 billion according the latest retails sales data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). The tallied results, recently released by the NRF and based on retail sales data from the Commerce Department, were roughly in line with the major trade group’s expectations.  

 🔑 Key points:

• Ahead of the holiday season, NRF had predicted that sales in November and December would rise 3% to 4% year over year to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion in spending. The forecast and holiday total exclude sales at automobile dealers, gas stations and restaurants.

• Nearly every retail category saw year-over-year gains. Electronics and appliance stores and health and personal care stores led the way with sales gains of 9.3% and 9%, respectively. Online sales and other non-store sales rose 8.2% year over year.

• Despite the solid peak season, economists and retailers are weighing whether consumers’ resilience will continue in 2024. The new year brings dynamics that could drive or dampen spending, such as a divisive presidential election cycle, cooling inflation and the Federal Reserve’s decision about whether and when to cut interest rates.

💡 So what: Retail sales play a crucial role in the U.S. economy, serving as a key indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's economic activity. Consumer spending drives demand for goods and services, impacting various industries and supporting job creation. Retail sales data is closely monitored by economists, policymakers, and businesses as it provides insights into the overall health of the economy.

Thursday - Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic Speaks

Friday - Consumer Sentiment (prelim), San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly Speaks

📈 Planning to invest for the long term? Follow these 10 tips!

💳 Understanding the difference between business and personal credit cards

👷🏾 The rise of “new-collar” workers!

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🏦 Biden admin goes after overdraft fees

WHAT: Hold on to your wallets! The Biden administration just dropped a set of draft regulations that could rescue customers from the clutches of overdrawn account fees to the tune of $3.5 billion annually. The announcement marked the latest effort in U.S. President Joe Biden's crackdown on the so-called junk fees consumers face across various industries such as housing, tourism, medicine and finance.

WHY: The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the proposed new rule, if adopted, would close a regulatory loophole that had unfairly allowed banks to extend costly credit on undisclosed terms to less wealthy depositors.

📱 Apple claims number one spot in smartphones

WHAT: Move over, Samsung! Apple just snatched the "Top Smartphone Seller" crown after a 12-year marathon! According to a report from International Data Corp, Apple commanded a 20% market share in 2023. Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, followed by China's Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion, preliminary data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.

WHY: The change in ranking comes after a tough year that saw consumers going slow on smartphone upgrades and choosing cheaper handsets due to high inflation and economic uncertainties.

🖥️ Google tweaks search to comply with EU rules

WHAT: Google's search results are getting a makeover! In a recent blog post, Alphabet spilled the beans that comparison sites will now enjoy a bit more of the spotlight, as the company outlined efforts to comply with new EU tech rules that could hit revenues for some companies. Under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google is obligated to treat rival services and products the same way as it treats its own when it ranks them in search results.

WHY: Rival comparison sites have been among the most vocal critics of Google's search practices, with a complaint last decade resulting in a 2.42-billion-euro ($2.63 billion) EU antitrust fine.

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