Economic Storm Clouds: How to Navigate Market Downturns and Consumer Shocks

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Warning signs are flashing across the economy: consumer confidence is plunging, tariffs are starting to bite, job numbers may be revised sharply down, and housing sales are at a decade-low pace. In this episode, we break down the hidden risks facing businesses and consumers, explain how these pressures could hit your portfolio, and share strategies for weathering corrections. A must-listen guide for anyone wanting to protect—and even grow—their wealth in turbulent times.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact that we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Guys, we had some serious economic storm clouds. Okay. You know,
I'm pretty good at calling this stuff as my longtime
listeners and as our clients are aware. It's part of
our personal CFO program. We basically say a personal CFO program.
We're managing people's assets. We are family CFO. We navigate

(00:38):
storms and corrections because they're going to happen. I want
to go through some of the numbers that I'm looking
at right now, and these are kind of off the
beaten track, some of them first and foremost, First and foremost,
but you know what, let's get into consumer confidence. Consumer
confidence went off clip fifty eight point six in August.

(01:04):
This is normally during major downturns you're seeing these types numbers. However, again,
those numbers can be fickle. Tariffs again, I've talked a
great length that they eventually are going to start to hit.
They already are starting to hit, but they're going to
hit to an even greater degree later on this year.

(01:26):
As it stands. As it stands right now, businesses are
basically eating about sixty it's about sixty four percent of tariffs.
They're eating them. But again, businesses will only eat them
for so long in the sense that they have a
fiduciary CEOs have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to

(01:47):
show a return, and they're going to find a way
to cut those costs, whether it be to pass a
cost on to the consumer, and they don't know where
they're going to be able to do that via the
eccon I mean, or whether it's going to be due
to layoffs. Follow me on that they're predicting by the fall,
sixty seven percent is going to be born by consumers. Again,

(02:11):
I know the administration will tell you otherwise, but we'll
have that conversation another day. The BLS. The BLS is
set to revise down US job numbers by anywhere between
five hundred and fifty thousand to nine hundred and fifty
thousand for the twelve months ending March of twenty twenty five. Wow,

(02:37):
that could be a big hit already. The CPI data
that was put out again I don't know if you're
aware of this. Thirty two percent of the numbers were fugeses.
They just guessed. They just guessed. Jusy about ten percent
that they guess on. But it's now up to thirty

(02:57):
two percent. Homes are selling at the slowest summer pace
in a decade. John Deere announces hundreds of leg I mean,
I can go on on non Okay, what do you do?
Run force, run sell Mortimer. No. Again, you always have
to be prepared for downturns if you handle and you

(03:19):
manage your portfolio properly. And we have discussed this, rotating assets,
taking profits, great market downturns, market selloffs. They can be scary,
I get all that, but once again, they can be
an enormous opportunity if you're smart. Watch dog on Wall

(03:40):
Street dot com