The Weekly Beacon – February 24, 2023

Click here for the PDF: The Weekly Beacon – February 24 2023

We will be giving some macro economic market updates on a weekly basis. No equity recommendations will be given in this commentary, and we encourage you to contact us if you have questions regarding any observations.

Feel free to send in your pictures of lighthouses to be featured in our weekly commentary.

This weeks issue: Walmart, Home Depot, Employment, Hiring, Wage inflation, Job market demand, Crypto’s horrible year, Crypto in 2022, Crypto market caps, FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, Bernie vs. SBF, Coinbase earnings Q4 2022, Coinbase revenue, Coinbase stock compensation, Jim Cramer stock picks, Retail investors, No landing by the FED, Ireland’s tax haven, Global tax havens, On shoring intellectual property, Intel, European tax rates, UK inflation, Ireland inflation, Ireland GDP, Credit card spending, Chinese labor, Altasia labor, Chinese competition, Global manufacturing share, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Russia China relations, Putin and Xi, Military ties, Economic ties, Energy = prosperity, Energy use leads to economic development.

 

Higher wages, higher prices

Wage inflation has recently picked up, especially in retail and services. These wage increases for workers will eventually be reflected in the prices consumers pay at the cash register.

On Tuesday morning, Home Depot announced it would be spending $1 billion on hourly workers’ wage increases. The wage increases will be split across U.S. and Canadian stores. The wage increase will be reflected on workers’ paycheques immediately.

This move by Home Depot signals the tightness in the labor market, especially for lower-wage hourly workers.

Home Depot is not the first retail giant to increase pay to incentivize workers. Walmart announced a plan recently to lift its average hourly wage to $17.50 from $17.00 as well as raising its U.S. minimum wage to $14.

 

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