Fisher Investments on Consumer Staples

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HISTORY OF CONSUMERISM IN AMERICA

“As soon as you can familiarize yourself with the actions of the past, you will be able to anticipate and act correctly and profitably upon forthcoming movements.”

—Legendary Wall Street speculator, Jesse Livermore

 

 

To understand where you may be going, you need to understand where you’ve been. That’s Jesse Livermore’s basic message. In his quest to anticipate the anticipation of others, Livermore, a renowned stock speculator from the early twentieth century, carefully studied historical stock performance while keeping an eye toward the future. Whether studying historical market cycles or merely brushing up on basic sector history, the past can help you better understand the present and future.

This chapter will trace the evolution of the consumer goods industry starting from the American Revolution. Along the way, we’ll cover the transformative underpinnings that created the present consumer goods universe. Though the Consumer Staples sector may seem slow to change compared to sector peers, it in fact evolves continuously. The firms and investors who anticipate future consumer shifts can be the ones best positioned to capitalize on change from an investment standpoint.

COLONIAL AMERICA AND CONSUMERISM

Think the age of consumerism is something new? No way! Consumerism is as old as the colonies.

The lifestyle differences between people who lived during the Middle Ages and those who lived in Colonial America are almost unimaginable. Both were ...