Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 3
Monday I took a trip to my local Costco. This journey is probably the primary reason I still own a car, but always fills me with dread as their parking lot is laughably small. So I figure I'd time my approach to perfection - the twilight between executive card holders and us peons. But, when I go to the lot it was about 20% empty. I figured, maybe it was the first of the month and people had run out of the previous month's money (but that hadn't noticeably imp[acted them in the past).
So, the next day, the boss asked mee to chauffer her to Kohls which resides in a strip mall with a larger parking lot than the Costco. Well the parking lot was nearly empty - as was the store.
This, of course is just anecdotal, but spooky none the less.
Jeff
No. of Recommendations: 6
This, of course is just anecdotal, but spooky none the less.You saw the BLS report on April personal savings rate? Over the past year, the rate has been wobbling between 3 and 4%. In April it was 2.6%
Ford Motor reported May sales today. Another down month. Ford management blamed it on the Escape and Corsair being discontinued. Farley dropped those models because they were dragging his ATP and GP metrics down. But F-series trucks, Ford's absolute goldmine, were down 13% too.
Ford Sales Plummet Nearly 14% Even With Employee Pricing For Everyone
Ford’s first quarter sales fell 8.8%, so the company brought back employee pricing for all on May 1. The offer runs through July 6 and consumers can save around $2,000 on a number of models including the Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mustang.
Unfortunately for Ford, the incentive isn’t working as combined May sales tumbled 13.6% compared to a year ago. The automaker sold 190,828 vehicles last month, which was down 30,131 units from 2025.
The drop can largely be blamed on Ford’s own decisions as sales of the discontinued Escape plunged 80.3% to 3,427 units. It’s also worth noting, once again, that Escape buyers aren’t migrating to the Bronco Sport as sales of the crossover dropped 8.3%.
Speaking of declines, the Expedition dropped 24.4%, while the F-Series fell 13.3%. The Ranger plunged 23.3%, while the Mustang saw a slight 1.8% decline.https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/ford-may-2026-sa...Folks are tapped out. They can't afford a $60,000 pickup, nor the $4.50/gallon gas to feed the thing.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 4
But, when I go to the lot it was about 20% empty. I figured, maybe it was the first of the month and people had run out of the previous month's money (but that hadn't noticeably imp[acted them in the past).
Everyone is shopped out after Mothers Day and Memorial Day sales, or shopping on-line. Walmart delivers to us almost instantly for free, and we are VERY rural, an hours drive away from their closest one. They send packages in what seems to be something like an Uber. We don't even get daily UPS delivery, but we receive Walmart things within 24 hours, free of charge, free of membership.
IP
No. of Recommendations: 0
Monday I took a trip to my local Costco.
I get delivery via Instacart. Saves time, money, and multiple aggravations.
No. of Recommendations: 4
<i.Folks are tapped out. They can't afford a $60,000 pickup, nor the $4.50/gallon gas to feed the thing.
Wow am I glad I sold my Whirlpool last year.
‘Running out of money’: Kraft, McDonald’s, Whirlpool CEOs all issue same dire warning about US consumers. Get ready now
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:HKC) CEO Steve Cahillane..."They're literally running out of money at the end of the month," Cahillane said in a recent interview (1). "We're seeing negative cash flows in the lower-income brackets where they're dipping into savings."
McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) CEO Chris Kempczinski has also flagged (3) pressure on consumers, pointing to "heightened anxiety." CFO Ian Borden noted that higher gas prices are hitting lower-income households especially hard — and said he expects that pressure to continue.
Whirlpool's North America chief Juan Carlos Puente added that "consumer sentiment collapsing to record lows" due to the Iran war prevented demand from recovering after winter storms, leading to "recession-level industry contractions," with discretionary demand down roughly 15%.
Planet Fitness (NASDAQ:PLNT) shares just suffered their biggest drop on record after management slashed its revenue outlook and canceled planned price increases.https://currently.att.yahoo.com/finance/economy/ar...Steve
