Broker Check

Giving Thanks, Double Dip Unlikely

November 17, 2020

Give Thanks! The US economy continues to heal. Payrolls keep growing, unemployment claims - though still elevated - are shrinking, key measures of the manufacturing and service sectors remain well into positive territory, and, as this week should show, both retail sales and industrial production remain on an upward trajectory.

While some investors are concerned about the near-term outlook for the economy given the recent increase in cases of COVID-19, we have yet to see signs of a double-dip recession. Yes, some locations have begun imposing new limits on economic activity, and others may follow. But businesses have come a long way, learning how to adapt and move forward from the mid-March environment, back when dealing with COVID-19 was brand new.

Think about businesses built around people commuting to work or leaving the office and going out to lunch; those operations have already shrunk substantially, putting another decline of that magnitude virtually out of the picture. Meanwhile, consumers have shifted their spending, generating jobs elsewhere. For example, home improvements are on track to hit a calendar-year record high in 2020. Housing starts will be the highest for any year since the crash in housing more than a decade ago. Warehousing & storage jobs are at a record high, as are courier & messenger jobs.

We don’t have the data yet, but migration between states and cities appears to have picked up substantially in 2020, as people leave areas that have experienced either excessive violence or draconian pandemic-related lockdowns. This is just another piece of evidence that businesses and individuals have found ways to continue being productive in the face of unprecedented events.  For this, and other reasons, we don’t see a double-dip recession.

Imagine being told back at the beginning of 2020 that the world was about to be hit by a global pandemic that would lead to massive government-imposed shutdowns of business activity around the country.  Imagine being told that we were going into a sudden (and sharp) recession which would see the largest single-quarter decline in economic activity since the Great Depression.

As an investor with that knowledge, what would you have done? Would you bail out of the stock market completely, or go all-in? We watched many run for cover as stocks fell sharply.

And yet, as of the close on Friday, the S&P 500 was up 11.0% year-to-date, and that doesn’t include reinvested dividends. The market is up for a number of reasons. 1) The S&P 500 includes many large tech companies that we could not have lived without, and many companies considered “essential.” 2) The Federal Reserve pushed the discount rate down significantly. 3) Government stimulus helped support consumer spending. 4) Companies adapted and lowered expenses, and 5) Many people accepted the risk of behaving somewhat normally as they looked at the data surrounding the virus.

The resilience of the economy and corporations has rarely been tested as it was this year. This experience, combined with recent announcements about vaccines and therapies, will lead to further economic growth. When a business had no idea how long it would be before a vaccine for COVID-19 was available, it made sense to postpone some investments indefinitely. But when the distribution of an effective vaccine looks like it’s around the corner, they can begin to take action on long-term plans even before the economy is fully healed. Much of the uncertainty be it about vaccines, the Supreme Court, or the elections - has now more or less passed.

Some uncertainty remains, it’s never fully gone, but when we compare the unknowns of today to that of just seven months ago, the risk to remaining invested in great companies has substantially declined. Give thanks for progress. A double-dip, while always possible, is unlikely.

Date/Time (CST)

U.S. Economic Data

Consensus

First Trust

Actual

Previous

11-16 / 7:30 am

Empire State Mfg Survey Nov

13.8

13.5

6.3

10.5

11-17 / 7:30 am

Retail Sales Oct

+0.5%

+0.3%

+1.9%

7:30 am

Retail Sales Ex-Auto - Oct

+0.6%

+0.3%

+1.5%

7:30 am

Import Prices Oct

0.0%

-0.2%

+0.3%

7:30 am

Export Prices - Oct

+0.2%

-0.1%

+0.6%

8:15 am

Industrial Production Oct

+1.0%

+0.8%

-0.6%

8:15 am

Capacity Utilization Oct

72.3%

72.0%

71.5%

11-18 / 7:30 am

Housing Starts Oct

1.460 Mil

1.471 Mil

1.415 Mil

11-19 / 7:30 am

Initial Claims Nov 14

700K

697K

709K

7:30 am

Philly Fed Survey Nov

22.0

31.0

32.3

9:00 am

Existing Home Sales Oct

6.450

6.680 Mil

6.540 Mil

Consensus forecasts come from Bloomberg. This report was prepared by First Trust Advisors L.P., and reflects the current opinion of the authors. It is based upon sources and data believed to be accurate and reliable. Opinions and forward looking statements expressed are subject to change without notice. This information does not constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security.

Infinity Wealth Advisors, LLC is not owned or controlled by World Equity Group, Inc.

World Equity Group, Inc. does not accept buy, sell or cancel orders by e-mail, or any instructions by e-mail that would require your signature. Information contained in this communication is not considered an official record of your account and does not supersede normal trade confirmations or statements. Any information provided has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed, does not represent all available data necessary for making decisions and is for informational purposes only. This e-mail may be privileged and/or confidential, and the sender does not waive any related rights and obligations. Any distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information it contains by other than an intended recipient is unauthorized. If you receive this e-mail in error, please advise me by return e-mail or otherwise immediately.

To Access This Link Online: https://www.ftportfolios.com/Commentary/EconomicResearch/2020/11/16/giving-thanks,-double-dip-unlikely