The economy is booming and everyone should enjoy it. The American economy is benefitting from tremendous amounts of pent-up demand and in some of the hardest-hit industries’ activity is beginning to tick back up above 2019 levels. Along with that boom, there are clear signs of inflation and concerns about overheating. Even Janet Yellen seemed concerned for a few hours last week.
Vaccines continue to be administered and supply will likely open up, even more, starting in April. Consumers have been dreaming of a return to normal and we appear to be at the cusp. The result of vaccination could be an explosion of pent-up demand for hardest-hit industries and a much better second half than people expect. Still, strong demand is putting pressure on supply chains and creating inflationary pressures. Given that stimulus is dependent on a K-shaped recovery, normalization could bring its own economic disruptions.
Succinct Summary: It was hard to pay attention to anything other than politics last week, but we’re trying our best to keep a focus on the economy. Economic activity appears robust from the earnings reports that we’re reading. Even the hardest-hit industries appear to be performing much better than expected. The tech industries that surged may be normalizing though. We’re getting a strong new surge in Covid cases, but people seem to feel more prepared than they did last spring.
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Succinct Summary: Companies are reporting signs of improvement in the economy. But the rebound is coming off such a low base that these numbers would still be considered very bad in any other environment. The duration of this rebound will depend heavily on whether or not there’s a second wave of infections. Still, even without the virus it probably will take the economy a long time to recover from such a severe shock.
On an industry basis: private capital markets are searching for price levels; consumers are dreaming of the future; tech is chugging along; and the industrial/energy economy is feeling immense pain.
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Succinct Summary: The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global challenge unlike anything that we’ve seen for 100 years. It is like a war with an invisible enemy. It requires coordination and cooperation from all of us. Many industries like airlines and restaurants are seeing their businesses disappear overnight. But the economic impact is nothing compared to the human impact if we don’t act. Hospital systems are already being stretched to their limits and the worst may still be ahead. Let’s hope not. Our best hope of averting that fate is to buy ourselves time via social distancing and break down regulatory barriers for potential treatments. (Go to Covidactnow.org to see how important social distancing is in the US).
Succinct Summary: The consumer is strong but manufacturing is weak. Everyone is tired of Brexit and tech IPOs probably still have a path to market as long as they have a path to profitability.