Transcription:
Conway Gittens: I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching today on TheStreet.
Wall Street is no longer under recession watch. However, the real estate sector remains a weak spot. Construction of new single-family homes plunged 14.1 percent in July, according to the Commerce Department. New projects have fallen for five consecutive months and are now at their lowest level in a year and a half. On the other hand, consumers remain resilient. Consumer confidence in early August rose more than expected.
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Continuing with the mighty American consumerism: selective shopping. That's the consumer theme emerging from Walmart and the one percent increase in official retail sales data for July.
Consumers are shopping, but they are doing so with caution because of high prices. That stinginess is leading consumers to look for ways to stretch their money, and that's leading many straight to Walmart.
In contrast to the gloomy valuations offered by a wide range of consumer-focused companies, from McDonald's to Starbucks to amazon to Home Depot, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts: “We're not experiencing a softening of the consumer overall. Customers at all income levels are looking for value, and we have that.”
In particular, Walmart says it continues to gain market share among higher-income customers, earning more than $100,000 a year, who are buying furniture, appliances, clothing and toys at lower prices.
The world's largest retailer saw a 22 percent increase in U.S. online sales during the second quarter, bringing total revenue in that country to $115 billion.
That's it for the daily roundup. From the New York Stock Exchange, I'm TheStreet's Conway Gittens.
Related: Walmart CEO has good news for Americans worried about the economy
