The U.S. government is sending out another round of checks meant to stimulate economic activity during the coronavirus pandemic. Eighty percent of U.S. recipients plan to: save the money (48%), or pay off their debts (32%), Refinitiv discovered in a collaboration with Maru Public Opinion (Exhibit 1). About one in five (20%) of Americans will either spend it (15%), while the remaining 5% will invest the funds. Exhibit 1: How Americans Plan to Use Their Stimulus Check Source: Maru Public Opinion Rising personal savings Nearly half of Americans (48%) receiving a check in the latest round of stimulus plan to

One of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic has been a shift to consumers “nesting” at home. Consumers were asked to stay at home and became teachers, fixed their homes, ordered takeout, took online workouts, cooking and DIY lessons. This has substantially accelerated the pace and shift to online shopping, which became evident when retailers reported strong digital sales in Q1 2020. Looking forward to anticipated Q2 performance, we used StarMine’s SmartEstimate to determine which companies in the Refinitiv Retail and Restaurant Index are better poised to continue beating earnings estimates. The results tell us that there is a nesting

With many people quarantined and working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer buying patterns have changed. In normal times, demand for the latest fashion trends is strong in the weeks leading up to Easter, a time when retailers are still selling the season’s must-have items at full price. These days, retailers have closed their physical stores and have increased the amount of merchandise on sale online. While some spending is sure to be constrained by high unemployment, some consumers are apparently willing to pay full price for some fashion items now rather than waiting for a discount later