https://www.wsj.com/economy/consumer...hare_permalink
I stated my views on Leon's question early in this thread. Key takeaway from the article above is that consumer spending from basic food and other staples to airline tickets is down substantially quarter to date, and it appears to cut across all income levels. Maybe baseball cards are different, but I suspect not.
In my mind, the argument for this recent period of volatility being "just another blip" are clear.
But I personally believe that the US equities market, as well as underlying consumers, are pricing in the risk that America's geopolitical primacy is coming to an end. That risk was priced in as zero from 1950 through 2024. The markets -- and the consumer -- aren't pricing that risk at zero today. So is it different this time? Who knows. But I sure don't like what I'm seeing out there.