The Energizer Bunny…

May 22, 2026

If you want one of the best gauges of how the economy is doing… look at the consumer.

Consumer spending makes up roughly 70% of the U.S. economy.

Tech always steals the show—and rightfully so. The biggest tech companies have driven a huge part of this rally.

But underneath all of that, one of the biggest debates continues to be:
How strong is the actual economy?

This week gave us another important look at that.

Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and TJX showed that consumers are still spending. All of the above reported positive same-store sales growth compared to last year. Costco led the way with an 11.7% jump.

Lowe’s and Home Depot both showed 0.6% increases year over year — not home runs, but still positive in a tough real estate market.

Online sales were up an average of roughly 20% for these retailers.

People have been waiting for the consumer to collapse for years… but they keep on spending.

To me, it’s clear that oil holding above $100 still hasn’t hurt the consumer the way many predicted it would.

Stocks posted another winning week and have now rallied for 8 straight weeks.

And the debate will continue around how strong or weak the consumer really is… what higher rates will eventually do… what $100 oil means… and whether spending will finally slow down.

But this week’s retail numbers were another reminder that the largest part of the U.S. economy still appears to be chugging along just fine.

Remember—the numbers are the numbers, and they’re far more important than predictions.

Earnings have been solid this quarter, just like we talked about last week.

The consumer is still going like the Energizer Bunny… and that is a positive for the market.

Have a great holiday weekend!