And so our weakening US / Global growth outlook playbook hums along. Another piece of the jigsaw fell into place this morning with the reported plunge in US retail sales in December 2018 vs the prior month the worst in nine years. The headline number declined in almost every category on record. Overall retail sales were down 1.2% MoM, the steepest decline since September 2009. Online sales were down 3.9%, the biggest decline since November 2008.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard was quoted as saying in a CNBC interview as reported by Bloomberg:
It certainly caught my eye.
…
It certainly adds to a story where we want to take on board that there are downside risks.
In upcoming posts I will write more about my own investing philosophy, my investing playbook including my thoughts on macro, stocks, credit etc. I would like to think that should help readers of this blog to relate to my views as reflected by my posts. I plan also to write about the areas of the market where I believe there may be significant opportunities to make money in the months ahead. So stay tuned.