How healthy is the U.S. consumer really and what does it mean for investors?

CNBC Finance

2 min read

In this Club Check-in, CNBC's Paulina Likos and Zev Fima tackle one of the biggest questions shaping the market right now: How healthy is the American consumer, and what does it mean for investors? The consumer landscape has been flashing mixed signals. Shoppers appear to be resilient on the surface but the reality is they're increasingly stretched. We're in a moment where solid holiday spending coexists with softer job growth, cooling consumer sentiment and a bifurcation among income groups. This backdrop has caused bouts of volatility in consumer-exposed stocks. While the S & P 500 gained roughly 1% over the past month, Club retail holdings, Costco and Home Depot , lagged significantly, down 4% and 5%, respectively, over the period. Some of our other consumer-exposed names include fellow retailers Nike and TJX and chains Texas Roadhouse and Starbucks . "What's clear is that strength depends heavily on which part of the income ladder you're looking at," Zev said. It's what Paulina highlights as the "K-shaped" economy , where higher-income households continue to spend while lower-income shoppers are feeling more strain. It all builds up to several investment takeaways related to nuanced stock picking and which names are best positioned in today's uncertain economic environment. Watch the video above to see how Paulina and Zev connect all the threads and what it means for the consumer landscape, along with the Club's 35-name portfolio. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

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How healthy is the U.S. consumer really and what does it mean for investors?

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