Time will Tell

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

April 21, 2025

Consumer spending is the largest component of the U.S. economy, and as more members of the baby boom generation retire and cut back on spending, we could expect GDP to decline. With that in mind, I found this CNBC story over the weekend highlighting record consumer credit card debt:

“According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 0.90% of accounts were delinquent, the most since the Fed bank began its report. It’s only a slight increase from 0.89% in the fourth quarter of 2023, but a larger spike from the 0.70% seen in 2022. The report relies on information from large U.S. banks, foreign banks that do business in the U.S., and savings and loans with at least $100 billion in assets. It also revealed that 11.12% of cardholders were making just the minimum payment, up from 10.65% in 2023 and 9.91% in 2022.”

Is GDP dropping because consumers have spent too much and are now reining in their purchasing, or are we seeing the demographic cliff some warn about—or both? Time will tell, but the implications of these factors may stress consumer-facing businesses in the near term.

News You Can Use

We start off the week this morning with the March results of U.S. leading economic indicators, followed by speeches from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and two other regional Fed presidents on Tuesday. New home sales data for March is out on Wednesday, while March existing home sales is out on Thursday. On Friday, we get an early look at consumer sentiment for April.

A number of banks report earnings this week with Bank of Hawaii, Cadence Bank, Cathay Bancorp, and Zions Bancorp leading off today. Tuesday calls include 3M, Capital One, Chubb, Packing Corp. of America, Equifax, Invesco, Northern Trust, Northrop Grumman, PulteGroup, Tesla, Verizon Communications, and others. AT&T, Boeing, Mr. Cooper Group, Norfolk Southern, Ryder System, Discover Financial Services, Graco, Whirlpool, and many others are scheduled for Wednesday. American Airlines, Dow, Fiserv, Merck, Tractor Supply, Boston Beer, WSFS Financial, Centene, Colgate Palmolive, and others round out a busy week.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

Uniquely Delaware

Delaware: A Fintech Powerhouse

Delaware has the highest concentration of financial services jobs in the U.S., with the sector making up 9% of all jobs—nearly double the national average. Wilmington, the hub of Delaware’s financial services industry, accounts for nearly 170,000 financial services workers and more than 100,000 technology workers across the metropolitan labor market. Read more >

Point to Point Wealth Planning is a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Their goal is to work with you to determine the service and solutions that fit your financial needs and priorities.

Learn more