Randomly Noted

It’s become clear the past few weeks – as retailers, gadget-makers and food producers have revealed financial results – that Americans are buying three things – and eschewing much else: cheap trendy clothes and accessories for their teenagers (Aeropostale, Buckle); cool mobile and light-weight devices (Dell); and basic food staples (Heinz, Hormel.) Otherwise, they’re saving money, and that’s good. Americans need to save. Thanks to advances in healthcare, we’re going to live longer, G-d willing, and enjoy (or endure) long retirements. For that, we’ll need money. Our kids will go to colleges that seem hellbent on raising tuition fees each year, and for that we most certainly will need money. And we need to stop eating out, for the sake of our wallets and waistlines. Buying food at supermarkets and cooking it at home makes sense, and this is what Americans are doing. It’s also emerging that companies are generally beginning to spend, or think about spending – witness Intel’s ability to forecast better-than-previously-expected third-quarter sales. As I noted yesterday in a blog about home builder Toll Brothers, Americans are also dipping a toe into the housing market – but they’re doing so at beaten-down levels, which is prudent. One hopes mortgage loan purveyors are requiring 20% downpayments this time around… Being a contrarian, I’m not particularly pleased by the fact that people are inching back to Tiffany & Co. It’s good for Tiffany, of course, but I’m not sure Americans should feel ready to buy luxury goods just yet. You’ll notice I haven’t written scoldingly about the spending on trendy stuff for teens and electronic devices. It would be hypocritical of me to do so, having, as I do, a fashion-conscious 13-1/2-year-old daughter and a gadget-gaga husband (who also does all the food shopping.) As a family, we spend robustly in all three areas that are benefiting from – or poised to enjoy – a slight upturn in American expenditures this summer.