- 2023-07-15
- Posted by: kimsite
- Categories: Commentary, Insights
Click here to listen to the full interview.
NEIL CAVUTO: All right. We’re spending. But I get reading some economists here
that were spent, we spent a whopping $12.7 billion in the two day Amazon prime
event, but a lot of that was slapped on plastic. Don’t know necessarily whether
that’s a good or bad thing. Let’s go to Scott Martin on that and Ann Berry on that.
And what do you think?
ANN BERRY: I think a little bit worrying, Neil. And also not just being slapped on
plastic. It’s being slapped on a new kind of plastic. When you break down that
number, nearly a billion of that 12.7 that you just talked about went on to buy now
pay later, which isn’t traditional credit cards. It’s a different newer kind of credit,
which, you know, the jury’s out on how well that works for the consumer right now.
CAVUTO: Still, Scott, that’s the when the administration says that the economy is
back and that is good so far. What do you think they do?
SCOTT MARTIN: Neil Life in plastic is pretty fantastic these days because the
economy is growing. The economy is recovering. A lot of us when we spend we
do put things on plastic, as Ann mentioned, maybe a slightly different buy now pay
later segment. But the reality is there’s force and there’s economies that I guess in
the future here come to play When you think about how your future is going to look
and the fact that you do go out and put things on credit, you do go out and even
back in the day put things on layaway. When I was a young boy, I guess when my
parents did that. With respect to the overall outlook that you have for your personal
situation and the economy is getting better, there still is pent up demand out there.
There are still roughly 10 million jobs out there, according to your favorite survey.
And so folks are relatively still optimistic. And I think they should be.
CAVUTO: You know, maybe that’s what’s reflected in the markets. And I mean,
you know, we had all the major averages up at least 2% last week. I believe the
Nasdaq 3%. Nasdaq is up north of 35% this year. Do you buy this rally?
BERRY: You know, Neil, I think we need to unpack who that rally is helping and
what we mean by who this economic growth is benefiting. Because if you look at
who is getting hit hardest the most right now, it is folks who are getting hit hard by
core inflation, which means if you’re paying rent as distinct from being a
homeowner, you’re feeling a lot of pain. If you are still depends point on getting
your essential spending out there on things like health care, you’re still feeling a
lot of pain. We’re seeing a lot of inflation there. So I think the rally is real, Neil, but
I think it is really concentrated to a very privileged part of the US socioeconomic
grouping. And I think we’re seeing really a tale of two cities now. Those who have
and those who have not.
CAVUTO: Well, right now, a lot of eyes on Wall Street, I guess, Scott, are on the
Federal Reserve at the end of this month. And whether it hikes rates, I guess it
seems to be increasingly given at least another quarter point hike. Maybe that’s it
for a while. Where are you on this?
MARTIN: They better not. I think they’re starting to see the fruits of their labor.
Let’s say, Neal, working in the markets and the economy, inflation down around
three, 4%. So that’s not too bad. And I think Ann’s right. I mean, this is a k-shaped
economy. Some are going up, some are going down. But the Fed, Neil, taking a
break here, will actually help those debtors. It’ll help those folks that are actually
putting things on credit card putting things on the buy now pay later because those
rates of financing, those purchases will actually come down if the Fed gets a clue
and stops.
CAVUTO: You know, I noticed guys were very early in the earnings season. Banks
usually kick it off pretty much all of the beat expectations. But I’m worried that, you
know, we did have three banks that went belly up in the quarter. Is that it? And can
we get past this or what do you think.
BERRY: Neil? I think it’s really important to keep that top of mind because what
we really saw with those banks going belly up, yes, there was some esoteric risks
in terms of their kinds of client base, which was very concentrated. But really it was
a sign that rising inflation rates as quickly sorry, interest rates as quickly as we’ve
seen it, do have some unpredictable risks and some that we haven’t seen the full
impact yet. And you’ve touched on it. Consensus is that we’re going to see rates
at at least 5.3, seven, 5% through the end of Q1 of 2024, which means for the
everyday consumer, we’re paying more on your auto loans, we’re paying more on
your credit cards, and we’re going to see, I think that impact come through a little
bit later than expected.
CAVUTO: All right. I hate to cut you off there. Just another update I want to provide
folks on Benjamin Netanyahu. Thank you both.
