Kingsview CIO Scott Martin On Fox Business Cavuto Coast to Coast 5.30.2024

Click here to listen to the full interview.

NEIL CAVUTO: Alright, read ’em and kind of weep. A lot of retailers are having a tough day right now. It’s not that all the numbers are bad. Foot Locker showed a surge in traffic, and the stock surged, right? Early in the market, it came out of the gate up 30%. I think it’s up about 20% right now. Kohl’s wasn’t so lucky; it’s down 23%. It’s a mixed read on the consumer. Remember, the consumer is the driving force behind the whole economy. We have Charlie Gasparino and Scott Martin with us. So, Scott, what do you think? How is the consumer doing?

SCOTT MARTIN: I think the consumer is doing a lot better than people think and certainly better than what people have been predicting. But as we’ve seen from these numbers, Neil, poor earnings and poor outlooks are the boogeyman for stocks. Companies in the consumer space that have held up well have valuations that aren’t cheap, but they aren’t rich either. These earnings misses and weak guidance fill in the gap, making people think the consumer is really going to get weak. But not all companies are saying that.

NEIL CAVUTO: Not all of them.

SCOTT MARTIN: That’s the joke. The high end is doing fine. The high-end consumers are your spenders, while the middle and lower-income groups are struggling.

NEIL CAVUTO: The Gasparino crowd.

SCOTT MARTIN: The Gasparino crowd going to Cracker Barrel and places like that. Applebee’s, things like that. We all feel that pain.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: I was there in 1989.

SCOTT MARTIN: 1990 and yesterday.

NEIL CAVUTO: That was the only time you went to a restaurant that didn’t have “Castle” in the name.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: I went to Cracker Barrel while driving to Florida.

NEIL CAVUTO: I really don’t care. I was driving to Florida and got a job at the Tampa Tribune. This is a great story though.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: I had meatballs and stopped at Cracker Barrel. I didn’t eat.

SCOTT MARTIN: You had the spaghetti and meatballs but…

NEIL CAVUTO: Fewer people are eating out. We’re going to get into that with Ashley Webster in a second. That could change. So, what do you think is driving the consumer right now?

CHARLIE GASPARINO: Well, I mean, who knows? People have to buy things.

NEIL CAVUTO: That’s why you’re here, to tell me.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: People have to buy stuff. Sometimes you run out of sneakers, so you buy some Nikes. But I still think inflation has taken a huge chunk out of everyone’s paycheck, even for those considered rich.

NEIL CAVUTO: So they don’t believe the story that things are getting better.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: If inflation weren’t crushing the working and lower classes, Joe Biden wouldn’t be called “Sleepy Joe” right now. The cost of items like Big Macs has almost tripled in the last few years.

SCOTT MARTIN: They’re smaller in size now. A guy went to Taco Bell a year and a half ago and got burritos for five bucks, now they’re like eight.

NEIL CAVUTO: McDonald’s said that was an aberration. Was it Darien, Connecticut, that had the $18 Big Mac meal?

CHARLIE GASPARINO: It’s not even $18. I heard it went from $3 to $9.

NEIL CAVUTO: That one was an anomaly. McDonald’s is a franchise-operated system, with 95% of prices being average.

SCOTT MARTIN: That’s something the market seems to tolerate. Consumers are still paying those prices. The high-end consumers are okay, and they’re the spenders.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: Then why are all these stocks down?

SCOTT MARTIN: Some are up. Costco is at an all-time high.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: The market is driven by five stocks doing really well, mostly associated with AI. I just don’t get it.

SCOTT MARTIN: Not Costco.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: I know you’re trying to get back into the market.

SCOTT MARTIN: I buy my stuff when it’s down.

NEIL CAVUTO: You don’t see this as some ominous sign? One of the papers today is talking about a big summer selloff.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: If the Fed doesn’t cut rates, it could be a problem.

NEIL CAVUTO: Cutting rates might alarm them.

SCOTT MARTIN: It would alarm me if they do.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: If they don’t cut rates, why would you put your money in the market at these levels? You can get 5% on a money market fund.

SCOTT MARTIN: That’s a lot of spaghetti and meatballs, a lot of Cracker Barrel trips on I-95 down to Tampa. We could stop at three of them and have that covered.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: What did you snort this morning?

SCOTT MARTIN: Whatever you gave me earlier.

NEIL CAVUTO: The overall market welcomes some slow numbers because it keeps things steady.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: About that snort…

SCOTT MARTIN: It was medication, it’s fine, it’s prescribed.

NEIL CAVUTO: Stocks are down. Salesforce had horrible earnings. What does that tell you?

SCOTT MARTIN: Mark Benioff does this once in a while, like Jeff Bezos did with Amazon. They’ve had these bad quarters.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: So buy the dip.

SCOTT MARTIN: Yes, buy the dip. Always buy the dip. Don’t take anything from Charlie Gasparino; it’s just his medication.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: You sound like Jim Cramer today.

SCOTT MARTIN: I’m out of here.

NEIL CAVUTO: He’s his own man.

SCOTT MARTIN: You sound like Scaramucci.

NEIL CAVUTO: Charlie, you wine and dine with all these guys. What keeps them up at night? Is politics entering into this?

CHARLIE GASPARINO: A lot of people I dine with, like Dan Hines, are permabulls.

NEIL CAVUTO: Where do you go?

CHARLIE GASPARINO: We go to Ilio’s.

NEIL CAVUTO: Dan is a permabull. What about the long-term market?

CHARLIE GASPARINO: The permabear that’s been wrong is Jamie Dimon. He’s been predicting a crash for years and keeps getting it wrong. The permabull getting it right is Larry Fink.

NEIL CAVUTO: Cancel Jamie Dimon. Call him and say we’re fine.

NEIL CAVUTO: You guys are great. Thank you both very much. Good luck at the restaurant tonight.

CHARLIE GASPARINO: Ilio’s. I’ll let you know. Don Jr. was there last night.

NEIL CAVUTO: Sign me up for that. Alright. Thank you guys.