1. In April, households saw incomes increase as employment and inflation contributed to nominal incomes. Alongside this increase in employment income, we also saw continued support from income on assets total incomes. Below we show the composition:
2. Personal income increased by 0.36% in April, disappointing consensus expectations of 0.4%. This print contributed to a sequential deceleration in the quarterly trend relative to the yearly trend.
3. The primary drivers of this print were Employee Compensation (0.6%) & Income on Assets (0.25%). Over the last year, Employee Compensation (3.36%), Rental Income (0.5%), & Income on Assets (0.96%). have been the primary sources of the 5.43% growth in income.
4. We zoom into employee compensation to show the industry-wise breakdown of this increase in income. Further, we break these gains down into their macroeconomic drivers, i.e., employment, real wages, hours worked, and inflation.
5. As we can see above, professional and business services continue to be the bastion of the current resilience of the consumer economy. On the other end of the spectrum, financial activities continue to see weakness, especially ex-inflation.
6. It is important to recognize that real incomes this month were weak. Our estimates indicated a -0.10% contraction; official data came up 0.10%. We show the sequential evolution of the data below. We also zoom out to offer more context:
7. Next, as previously alluded to, we show how income on assets continues to contribute to income growth, now contributing 1% of the total 5% growth in nominal income:
8. This increased income was spent on the economy, with motor vehicles seeing strong nominal and real spending. Nominal consumer spending increased 0.84% in April, surprising consensus expectations of 0.3%.
9. This print contributed to a sequential deceleration in the quarterly trend relative to the yearly trend.
10. We zoom out to show the drivers of current trends in spending. Other Nondurable Goods (0.63%), Housing & Utilities (1.49%), Health Care (1.39%), Food Services & Accommodations (0.65%), & Other Services (0.88%). have been the primary drivers of the 6.73% growth in spending.
11. This increase in spending was a drag on savings, which came alongside a decrease in mortgage borrowing, dragging on total borrowing.Overall, This nominal spending continues a trend that has been in place since last year, i.e., one of declining sustained savings reductions.
12. However, durable goods spending, home prices, and equity market prices came together to create an increase in assets, increasing household net worth.
13. According to our latest estimates for the month of April, household net worth increased by 2.9%, driven by a 2.81% and -0.08% change in assets & liabilities, respectively.
14. We show the evolution of our household net worth estimates below, which show that net worth has contracted -0.97% over the last year:
15. Over the last year, household assets have fallen by -0.97%. Below, we decompose these changes in assets into risk assets (equities, corporate credit, etc.), real assets (real estate, consumer durables, etc.), and cash assets (checking, savings, money markets funds, etc.).
16. Risk assets, real assets, and cash assets have contributed 0.29%, -0.36%, and-0.9%, respectively, to the total change in household assets over the last year.
17. Contemporaneously, household liabilities have grown by 9.73%, driven by a 7.99% rise in mortgages and a 1.73% increase in consumer credit. We show our estimates for both below, along with the official data:
18. Overall, the latest data for April suggests a more resilient consumer, supported by strong employment and income on assets. Employment remains the stronghold of the economy and an offsetting force to weak business conditions.
The best information we can ever provide investors is the mechanics of how we think about macro conditions over time rather than what we think about them at any particular time.
Below we share a list of our most comprehensive Macro Mechanics notes. Enjoy!⬇️
1. Why Does GDP Growth Matter?
We offer our thoughts on what we consider table stakes in trading markets and a precise understanding of why Growth markets to investors.
The best information we can ever provide investors is the mechanics of how we think about macro conditions over time rather than what we think about them at any particular time. We share our framework for thinking about bonds and how to time them. 🧵
Bonds are fixed-income assets issued by the government that offer compensation as a reward for migrating from cash. In turn, cash seeks to entice savers by offering a return that largely neutralizes the depreciation of money caused by inflation.
Thus, in order for a treasury bond to be attractive, it will seek to earn a return in excess of cash and implicitly seek to offset the impact of inflation over the course of its life. The life of a treasury varies by its tenor, ranging from a 3-month bill to a 30-year bond.
The best information we can ever provide investors is the mechanics of how we think about macro conditions over time rather than what we think about them at any particular time.
We share our framework for thinking about stocks and how to time them. 🧵
Before discussing how we think about making bets on the stock market, we briefly provide an overview of what a stock is. A stock represents a share of ownership in a company. When you buy a stock, you are a partial company owner.
Companies issue stocks to raise money for operations, expansion, or other projects. Investors are willing to invest in equities because they perceive the current price to be at a discount due to the uncertainty around the company’s operations being successful.
1/ Prometheus ETF Portfolio was our first retail strategy, launched in November 2023. The strategy has achieved our goal of achieving strong risk-adjusted returns relative to cash with limited capital drawdowns in depth and duration:
2/ Prometheus ETF Portfolio aims to allow everyday investors to access an investment solution that combines active macro alpha, passive beta, and strict risk control, all in an easy-to-follow, low-turnover solution. Thus far, we have been successful in generating these outcomes.
3/ However, innovation has been the cornerstone of our evolution, and we’re constantly pushing forward our understanding of macroeconomic dynamics to further our edge in markets.
Employment growth has begun to deviate meaningfully from GDP numbers. This is unlikely to persist.
Will output come down to meet employment, or will labor markets accelerate?
1/23 Thread.
2/Employment & output are at odds. To understand what’s driving the gap between them, we examine each individually. We then reconstruct the gaps between spending & employment for major industries, allowing us to assess 1) what’s driving divergence, & 2) its sustainability
3/In terms of labor market mechanics, the two primary macro drivers of employment growth are changes in the labor force and changes in unemployment.
1/20 At its core, inflation is a simple concept: the change in the overall price level in the economy. This price level can be measured in various ways: CPI, PCE, PPI, GDP Deflator, etc.
2/20 Like economic growth, inflation represents a mechanical framework that has more power than any specific definition.
3/20 Inflation is fundamentally driven by the balance between nominal spending (demand) and the available supply of goods and services in an economy.