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Feb 15, 2024

Consumers backed off a bit in January

Turns out, we weren’t very spendy in the first month of the year. Retail sales tumbled 0.8% in January.

January was not very spendy
by Sabri Ben-Achour
In January, sales were down 0.8% — a bigger decline than economists expected. Consumers have been complaining about persistent inflation and higher prices and may now be pulling back. Susan Schmidt, head of public equity at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board joins the program to discuss.
Rough times for Express
by Lily Jamali
Shares of Express tumbled 40% earlier this week on news that the company could soon file for bankruptcy protection. Express became a mainstay of U.S. malls around the time when shoulder pads reigned supreme. But traffic is now at its 600 stores is down, and it’s looking to restructure a massive debt.
College and university endowments had a good 2023 thanks to the stock market
by Stephanie Hughes
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Larger endowments — which tend to invest more in private equity and venture capital — didn’t do as well as smaller ones that stuck to investment basics.