A Wall Street Vet’s Walmart Recession Indicator Just Hit Its Highest Point Since 2008—and He Says the Fear ‘Just Keeps Multiplying’

A Wall Street vet’s Walmart recession indicator just hit its highest point since 2008—and he says the fear ‘just keeps multiplying’

Forget the Fed. Forget nonfarm employment. Forget even industrial production and real income. For Jim Paulsen, the real recession indicator is watching Walmart. Paulsen, former chief investment strategist at investment research firm the Leuthold Group, devised an indicator he dubs the “Walmart Recession Signal” (WRS), which tracks the stock price of Walmart against the S&P Global Luxury Index, a basket of 80 companies producing or distributing l…

Walmart recession indicator is flashing red

The Walmart Recession Signal (WRS), which measures Walmart's stock price against a basket of luxury stocks, shows high risk of a sharp economic downturn.

Walmart Recession Signal points to 'sharp economic downtown': Wall Street insider

Jim Paulsen, a veteran economist and former chief investment strategist for the Leuthold Group (a Minneapolis-based investment research company), is known for operating the Walmart Recession Signal. The WRS is used to measure the economy's well being, and according to Business Insider's Jennifer Sor, a recent WRS reading indicates that a recession is a strong possibility.Sor, in an article published on March 30, notes that the WRS "measures Walm…

When Walmart Starts Looking Good, the Economy’s in Trouble

Here’s a fun fact that’s decidedly not fun: when people start shopping at Walmart instead of Gucci, economists start sweating. And right now, they’re sweating buckets. Meet the Walmart Recession Signal (WRS)—basically Wall Street’s way of saying “hey, remember when everyone had money?” It’s a simple concept: compare Walmart’s stock price to luxury stocks. When the ratio spikes, it means consumers are trading their designer handbags for bulk toil…