How the cows are telling us a recession is very near

J.J. Money
2 min readAug 16, 2023

What if you had an almost foolproof indicator that a recession was on the horizon?

Would you adjust your investments? Would you save more money? Would you … work harder at your job?

Well, there might be just such a recession indicator where you least expect it: cows.

And that indicator is starting to scream: “RECESSION ALERT!”

Look to the cows

OK, well it’s not cows so much as people shopping for cows.

One thing I like to do when gauging the health of the economy is to look at what executives are saying during stock earnings calls.

Credit card execs and retail CEOs are of particular use here, because they’re the first to know when American consumers are shifting their behavior.

Costco reported earnings this week, and the company’s executives seem pretty sure there’s a recession coming.

That’s because people are losing interest in the cows.

Digital art of a cow standing in front of a red stock market chart.
If you want to know when a recession is coming, look to the cows. (Image credit: JJ Money/DallE2)

Shifting behavior

In an earnings call reported on by Business Insider, Costco’s CFO Richard Galanti told analysts that shoppers are shifting from away from buying beef in favor of cheaper meats like chicken and pork.

--

--

J.J. Money

Former journalist who writes about making money online, investing, and passive income. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1k_0PYxesTxiD_QmjPp6w