Economic reports, especially those relating to the financial health of American citizens, have not been overwhelmingly positive lately. In fact, deflationary fears aren’t subsiding, and more quantitative easing from the Fed may be on the horizon, as evidenced by nuances in today’s statement.

The dismal consumer state makes the performance of Growth Portfolio member Apple (AAPL) all the more impressive. While most Americans are struggling to stay employed and pay their bills, Apple is struggling to keep their new offerings on the shelves. Yesterday, the company announced that they have sold 3 million iPads since their new tablet computer was released in early April. The demand has exceeded company and Wall Street expectations alike, and has strained supplies. With an iPad being purchased every two seconds, most retail outlets have resorted to customer waitlists as inventory struggles to catch up to the volume of purchases.Read more...

It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over. Typically, the end of the summer means one thing for retailers: back-to-school shopping. But in this tumultuous consumer environment, most retailers are likely holding their breath and crossing their fingers for decent results, rather than a return to the free-spending American shopping season of yore. We’ll save discussions of holiday shopping season for later. Read more...

We are in the full swing of earnings season, and the market is sorting through companies’ reports to find clues as to the state of the economy. Our read has largely been that only those companies that have significant operations in the developing nations are showing strength, while many domestic companies are still having trouble. In other words, we think that the American economy is not out of the woods yet. Today we’ll review two Growth Portfolio picks that reported earnings yesterday: Coca-Cola (KO), a multinational powerhouse, and Apple (AAPL), a predominantly domestic company that has bucked the trend of weak consumer spending.Read more...