Latest / Markets with Megan: A Quick Financial Markets Update / Consumer Raises Red Flag On Tech | S2 E015 | 02-25-25

Transcript

Consumer Raises Red Flag On Tech | S2 E015 | 02-25-25 · Markets with Megan: A Quick Financial Markets Update

• 0:00
  Megan Horneman: The consumer keeps flashing these warning signs for us from an economics perspective, it's Tuesday, February the 25th, and this is Markets with Megan.
• 0:08
  Megan Horneman: Don't forget to like this podcast, subscribe, hit that alarm bell, share it with friends or colleagues.
• 0:13
  Megan Horneman: But let's dig into the data we got today and some of the moves we're seeing from a markets perspective.
• 0:18
  Megan Horneman: Consumer confidence by the conference board is the second major report that we've gotten on consumer confidence and again disappointing Came in.
• 0:27
  Megan Horneman: Much weaker than anticipated, in fact, the lowest in about four years.
• 0:31
  Megan Horneman: Let's dig into some of the details on that report.
• 0:34
  Megan Horneman: For the month of February, consumers became much less optimistic, you could say, on not only the present situation but also expectations for the future.
• 0:46
  Megan Horneman: We also saw inflation expectations in this report increase and signs about the labor market were weaker, as well as the jobs that are plentiful out there, minus those that are hard to get, actually declining as well.
• 1:00
  Megan Horneman: So this is we're seeing from a market perspective.
• 1:04
  Megan Horneman: It's been very mixed today.
• 1:06
  Megan Horneman: When you look at technology the S&P 500, which is also very tech heavy these indices are being dragged lower.
• 1:13
  Megan Horneman: If you look at something like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a little bit more diversified from the perspective of the entire US economy.
• 1:22
  Megan Horneman: That actually is positive and it's up triple digits today.
• 1:25
  Megan Horneman: So why are we seeing this dispersion?
• 1:28
  Megan Horneman: We have often warned about technology and US large cap growth being priced for perfection from an economic standpoint and from an earning standpoint.
• 1:37
  Megan Horneman: We're starting to get earnings reports from some of these technology companies and we're getting a more dismal economic outlook.
• 1:44
  Megan Horneman: So what's going to drop?
• 1:45
  Megan Horneman: First, people are going to take profits on the biggest winners, and we're seeing that right now.
• 1:50
  Megan Horneman: It's a reason why we've been a little bit cautious on that growth side of the market as well, and we do think there's probably more downside from the technology and growth in this market.
• 2:01
  Megan Horneman: Now, from the Federal Reserve standpoint, this just tells the Fed hey, the economy's weakening.
• 2:08
  Megan Horneman: Inflation is not that progress has kind of stalled, so the Fed's in a tough spot.
• 2:13
  Megan Horneman: We think this is going to keep them on hold.
• 2:15
  Megan Horneman: We don't think this really changes anything from that perspective, but this volatility in the market is here to stay.
• 2:21
  Megan Horneman: Many, many factors.
• 2:22
  Megan Horneman: We've got now a very cloudy economic outlook.
• 2:25
  Megan Horneman: We've got inflation that just continues to be stubborn, and we have a lot of political uncertainty in regards to tariffs, the Doge Commission and also what will happen from a geopolitical standpoint.
• 2:38
  Megan Horneman: That's all we have today.
• 2:39
  Megan Horneman: If you want further history of our podcast, you can go to marketswithmegan.
• 2:43
  Megan Horneman: fm.
• 2:44
  Megan Horneman: Thank you.