Jobs and the Consumer with Tom Stemberg, Founder and Former CEO of Staples

Fellow Investor,

This week’s PowerTalk  is with Tom Stemberg, the founder and former CEO of Staples and the Managing General Partner of the $300 million Highland Consumer Fund.  He’s also a member of the Job Creators Alliance.

It’s no secret that job creation has been challenging - 155,000 per month on average over the last 25 months - frustratingly slow.  As we learned recently, the January unemployment rate ticked back up to 7.9% With gas and good prices climbing, plus the expiration of the payroll tax holiday - it doesn’t paint a favorable picture for consumers, particularly those that have been part of the long-term unemployed.

Now we’re hearing that tax revenues are back on the table when it comes to solving the country’s debt problem. As it stands today, there’s more than $52,000 in debt per citizen and more than $146,000 debt per taxpayer. 

All of this plays right into the Rise and Fall of the Middle Class PowerTrend that subscribers to my PowerTrend Profits newsletter hear me talk about so much.

In the interview Tom and I discuss unemployment and the January jobs data.  We also take a look at why Congress and the President are struggling to create jobs (hint: they can’t get out of their own way), the impact of regulation on small and medium sized businesses, what to expect from consumer spending in 2013, the types of companies Tom sees delivering growth in this economy and more!

Sincerely,

Chris Versace
Editor, PowerTrend Profits
Founder & Host, PowerTalk