Conor Sen

The Shine Is Coming Off the Boom Stocks of 2020

As investors think about which stocks to hold going into 2021, there may be no bigger red flag than a huge third-quarter earnings beat. That's because of what the pandemic has done to consumer behaviors and corporate earnings this year — impacts that may turn out to be more transitory than real…

One Million Air Travelers Is a Good Sign for the Economy

The latest spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations has people worried about more than just the public health impacts. There's also the threat that renewed constraints on activity could drag the economy backward as we head into colder winter months. Air travel is one kind of in-person…

An Epic Factory Jobs Boom Is on the Way

Ahead of Friday's jobs report, evidence has grown to suggest that while total US unemployment remains high, the manufacturing and construction industries may be poised for the kind of V-shaped recovery that we haven't seen in decades. This won't help the job prospects for bartenders in New York…

Our Weird Pandemic Spending Ways Could Change Soon

There's been a lot of talk about the US experiencing a K-shaped recovery, with large companies and the rich recovering while smaller companies and lower-paid service workers struggle. But this divide also shows up in the way Americans are shopping. July personal spending data confirmed a…

US Economy May Have Hit the Coronavirus Bottom

As the calendar turns to May, we're likely to see a slow return of growth for some types of economic activity that were wiped out by the coronavirus shutdowns in March and April. That's the good news. The bad news is, as we've seen in the oil industry this week, much of the economy remains…

US Economy Will Be in Trouble If Boomers Don't Come Back to Work

The question on the minds of American workers in April will be when can we turn the economy back on. The underlying assumption in that question is that there will come a point when we can re-create the economy we had before the coronavirus forced the closing of large parts of the country. Although…

The Internet Is No Longer a Disruptive Technology

Internet-enabled industry disruption defined business strategy in the 2010s, but as 2020 begins, that era appears to be winding down. The disruptors have largely become the new establishment, and unlike a decade ago, it doesn’t look like the new leaders will be displaced any time soon. Today’s…

The 2020 Economy Should Feel a Lot Better

The economy has battled a lot of headwinds during the past year. Trade wars. The lagging impact of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes. A government shutdown. The good news is that with those hiccups mostly out of the way, the economy may be poised for better performance in 2020. The…

Full Employment Proves to Be the Best Weapon Against Inequality

Tax reform early this year was expected to bring a windfall to corporations and the wealthy, but we’re finding instead that 2018 has been great for workers and, on some measures, the worst year for investors in decades. While it may be a few years until we get detailed data, early indicators…

America Is Falling Out of Love With Silicon Valley. What’s Next?

America is falling out of love with tech. For the first time since the dot-com bust in 2001, this year we’ve seen a broad cultural backlash against the tech industry, culminating perhaps with the recent rout of tech stocks. Tech has become such a part of everyday life and such an engine of society…