The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

The decline in the "Misery Index" has stalled near 7% in recent months after peaking at 15% at the start of the pandemic and subsequently dropping from 12.6% in June 2022 to 6.7% in June 2023. The index is a measure of consumers' well-being that adds the unemployment rate and the annual inflation rate -- which are important to the Federal Reserve's dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. The index was invented by economist Arthur Okun in the 1970s while he was at the Brookings Institution after leading President Johnson's Council of Economic Advisors. To be sure, the index is below the 9.2% average since 1949 and well below "stagflation" peaks around 20% during the Ford and Carter presidencies. The five-year low was 5.2% in September 2019. Recent surveys of consumer sentiment have been volatile, with The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index falling in February after three consecutive increases. Actual spending has been choppy too. Retail sales rose 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in February. The result was an improvement from January's flat performance but weaker than December's 5% rise. After the report, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow estimate for 1Q personal consumption growth declined to 2.2% from 2.9% on March 7. PCE remains the dominant driver of the Nowcast's estimate for GDP to grow 2.3% in 1Q. A risk we have been monitoring is ongoing weakness in big-ticket discretionary spending. Record-high credit-card rates have made consumers reluctant to purchase items that may take months to pay off. Sales at electronics and appliance stores encouragingly turned positive in February, but building materials stores were off 6.1% while furniture and home furnishings stores declined 10.1%. Our analysis of last week's employment report supports our expectation for a mid-year rate cut that could lift discretionary spending. Some improvement in inflation from this week's CPI report would raise our confidence and lower the Misery Index.

TJX Companies is the leading off-price retailer of apparel, accessories, and home merchandise in the United States. The firm leverages its more than 21,000 global vendor relationships to procure and sell brand-name merchandise at prices 20%-60% cheaper than conventional retail channels. TJX opportunistically purchases excess inventory that stems from manufacturing overruns and retail closeout sales. The off-price retailer disperses its vast and disparate merchandise across its 4,950 global stores, creating a treasure-hunt shopping experience for consumers. Over three quarters of TJX’s sales are derived from the United States, primarily via the T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods banners. About 10% of sales are from Canada and 12% from Europe and Australia.

TJX Companies Inc. sells name-brand merchandise at discounted prices. The company operates almost 5,000 stores, with 3,585 T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Homesense, and Sierra stores in the U.S., 566 stores in Canada, and 803 stores in Europe and Australia. In FY20, the company posted sales of $42 billion, which dropped to $32 billion in FY21 and rebounded to $48.5 billion in FY22, FY 23 sales were $49.9 billion and FY24 sales were $54 billion. Clothing and footwear is the major product category, at 48% of sales. Jewelry and accessories represent 17% and home products represent 35%. The company, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, has approximately 329,000 associates worldwide and more than 21,000 vendors sourcing products from over 100 countries. E-commerce represents less than 3% of sales. The HomeGoods division in the U.S. represents approximately 17% of company sales. 'Home fashions' represent approximately 35% of enterprise revenue (clothing represents 48% and jewelry and accessories 117%). Much of the 'home' merchandise consists of accessories, gift items, products for kids, and even packaged food. The HomeGoods and Homesense businesses have more 'big' items like lamps, furniture, and rugs than T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. Based on the company's reported segments, the U.S. represents almost 80% of sales and Canada about 10%. The International segment accounts for 13% of sales (12% Europe, 1% Australia). We don't have a revenue breakdown in Europe, but approximately 60% of the segment's stores are in the U.K, 23% are in Germany, and 7% are in Poland. The rest are in Ireland, Austria, and The Netherlands. We will update these numbers after we review the annual report. The company's fiscal year ends on the Saturday nearest to the last day of January. FY24 was a 53-week year. FY25 will end on February 1.