TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General are in trouble.
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00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
00:03Here's what we're watching on the street today.
00:06Cooler heads prevailed on Wall Street on Wednesday,
00:09even though there are still concerns about an economic slowdown.
00:13Job openings hit their lowest since January 2021.
00:17Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's Summary of Economic Conditions,
00:20known as the Beige Book, reported more signs of sluggishness across the country.
00:25It also said weakness in consumer spending was spreading.
00:29The Fed will use that information to determine how much to cut interest rates at its September meeting.
00:35Here's something else for the Fed to consider.
00:37Dollar stores are struggling as inflation takes a bigger bite out of their customer base.
00:43Dollar Tree, which also operates Family Dollar, on the super low end,
00:48saw quarterly profits cut by a third.
00:51The problem? Dollar Tree says it is, quote,
00:54navigating through one of the most challenging macro environments ever.
00:59Discretionary spending at Dollar Tree is particularly weak,
01:03describing consumer behavior as, quote,
01:05buying for need, not buying for want.
01:08Even its mid- to higher-income consumers are pulling back because of inflation.
01:13With value being the name of the game,
01:15households earning $125,000 or more a year are switching to Walmart and Target,
01:22where they can buy everything in one place.
01:25Dollar Tree took in $7.37 billion in revenue during the second quarter,
01:30which was weaker than expected.
01:32The average sale per customer was down from a year ago.
01:36That problem is not Dollar Tree's alone.
01:39Its rival, Dollar General, said its customers are, quote,
01:42financially constrained.
01:45Both companies slashed financial projections for the rest of this year
01:48with little hope of relief for their key consumer.
01:52That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.
01:55I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.