Words are Powerful
Welcome to September! We hope that everyone has a plan to eat at least one hotdog or burger this labor day weekend…it may be the only thing everyone can afford to eat after all of the inflation of the past year. But take the time to enjoy a day off before we tumble into the rest of the year. As we talked about last week, there is no telling what will actually happen.
—CN & JB
Company Performance (8/25 - 9/1)
Chewy Softens Expectations
(Source: GIPHY)
As we have talked about a number of times on this newsletter already, consumers have been hit hard with all of the inflation. (We may be wondering how many times we can put “inflation” in a newsletter before you throw your computer out the window). The result has been less discretionary spending power given the increased cost of groceries, gas, and housing. Chewy had a slight decline in customers and they missed their Q2 targets and have since lowered their forecasts for the second half of the year. Overall, Chewy is still in the positive and likely to have a positive year. However, their competitors (Amazon and Walmart) are seeing improvement rather than a stagnant position going into the last 4 months of the year. What is clear is that pet owners are substituting their purchases from Chewy to cheaper options most known to be found at other retail outlets. It is likely that this is true for the veterinary services as well. Something to keep in mind as we move farther away from the peak of the pandemic.
Latest On Research
(Source: GIPHY)
If you missed the most recent news article on work that I (Clint) have been working on then give it a read! This one is about the work I have been doing on burnout in the veterinary profession. Not only does this article talk about what I have done, but the future work to come on helping tackle the problem. Supporting the well being of the veterinary profession is of upmost importance as we barrel toward a new world of animal health in this post-pandemic atmosphere.
—CN
A Dose of Happiness
While this one is not about a basset hound, it is definitely a basset thing to do. Check out this golden retriever who was adamant about keeping his parents from leaving.
If you love Dolly Parton, well now so can your dog! Parton has launched a new line of dog clothes and accessories. Best part is that a part of all proceeds go to support an animal rescue organization. So get out there and dress up your pets in all Dolly Parton fashion for a good cause.
Do you have a happy animal story you want to share? Send us the story and we will share it with the rest of our readers!
-JB
General Economy Update - Oh Jerome…
(Source: GIPHY)
At the end of last week, FED Chair Jerome Powell gave his much anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole, WY, and it turned out to be more pessimistic than all the students who recently went back to school about school cafeteria food. As Powell points out, prices are anything but stable and this is really a concern for the economy. While we have seen some relief over the last month or so, the FED is unsure whether that will hold and it hasn’t been enough to bring inflation down to the annual target rate of 2-3%. So, Powell warns us that more interest rate hikes are coming and we should change our expectations if we thought differently. The result of this speech was reflected in the stock market with most stocks falling for most of this past week. While we still aren’t in an official recession, all eyes will be on initial estimates next month of GDP growth. But before then, we have a lot of economic reports for August to dig down and analyze. Remember to tell your friends that this is the newsletter to get all of that insightful information!
-CN
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