Australians have burnt through all their cash. Here's what it means for your investments

To quote upcoming Signal or Noise guest, Kellie Wood, Head of Australian Fixed Income at Schroders, rules are made to be broken! 

In this case, the calls for a deep consumer-led recession have been the battleground and conventional wisdom should have led to that conclusion. But it didn't. 

The problem for economists and strategists alike has been the fact that the consumer has been so much more resilient than they ever expected. Consumers, on aggregate, had a lot of cash saved up. But as we're finding out now, some consumers have fared a lot better than others. It's as if the only conclusion from this cycle is that the concept of an average consumer no longer exists - no kidding! 

The upcoming edition of Signal or Noise will deal with this very important economic issue. Joining our resident economist Diana Mousina and myself will be two leading stock pickers and strategists who have differing views on the state of the Australian consumer: 

• Richard Schellbach, Strategist for Australia and New Zealand at UBS
• Ben Clark, Portfolio Manager at TMS Capital

This episode was taped on Wednesday 14 August 2024. The main show will be released Monday 19 August 2024.

Rapid Fire Questions

• If you had to describe today’s average Australian consumer in one word, what would it be and why?
• The household savings rate has collapsed from its long-run average of 6% to barely above 0%. Is that a SIGNAL and if so, why?
• Yes or No - Will the Stage 3 tax cuts have a meaningful impact on retail sales and consumer buying activity?
• And finally - staples, discretionary, both, or neither: Where do you want to be invested in the consumer space today?