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Trump said earlier this week U.S. communities will be “backwards and poor” if they do not approve data centers.

You can save diligently for decades and still make a few retirement planning mistakes that put your financial security at risk.

Wes Moss, host of Ask an Advisor on the Clark Howard Podcast, has spent decades working on the front lines as a fiduciary financial advisor. After walking thousands of families through the pivotal transition from saving to spending, Wes has found that the most devastating pitfalls rarely involve picking the wrong individual stock or missing the latest investing fad. Instead, they almost always stem from foundational issues: debt structure, marital communication, and cash-flow reality.

We asked Wes to break down the most common — and costly — retirement planning mistakes he sees today, and what pre-retirees should do to protect themselves.

1. Carrying Mortgage Debt With No End in Sight

Entering retirement with housing debt is one of the heaviest financial anchors you can drag into your next chapter.

Through extensive research on what actually drives retiree satisfaction, Wes discovered a direct correlation between peace of mind and the amortization schedule on a home loan.

“Retirement happiness rises as the number of years left on your mortgage falls, and my latest research shows the ‘money green zone’ begins once you have 9 years or less remaining on your payoff schedule,” Wes explains. “Carrying an open-ended (long) mortgage into retirement, with no clear payoff date, is one of the heaviest rocks you can put in your retirement backpack.”

When a large mortgage payment follows you into retirement, it permanently inflates your baseline living expenses, forcing you to pull more money out of your investments regardless of market conditions.

If you are approaching retirement with significant housing debt, prioritize getting your remaining payoff window under that nine-year threshold — or wiping out the loan entirely before you clock out for the last time.

2. The Spousal Disconnect

Retirement isn’t just an individual financial balance sheet; for married couples, it is a complete lifestyle overhaul. When two partners aren’t operating from the same playbook, the consequences can be severe.

“Couples who are significantly misaligned on retirement spending, saving, and investing create a tornado of discontent that can derail even a well-funded plan,” Wes warns. “The fix isn’t necessarily more money, it’s a written plan or blueprint that both spouses actually agree on, so decisions get made from the same page instead of two different ones.”

One spouse might envision traveling abroad six months a year, while the other wants to stay home, renovate the kitchen, or financially assist adult children. If these differences aren’t hashed out in advance, the resulting friction quickly turns financial choices into emotional battlegrounds. Sitting down to write out shared priorities, expected spending targets, and risk tolerance ensures you enter retirement as a unified team.

3. Running a Rich Ratio Under 1.0

To determine whether someone can realistically afford to stop working, Wes bypasses arbitrary portfolio target numbers and instead points to a straightforward formula he calls the Rich Ratio:

Rich Ratio = Have (Sustainable Monthly Income) ÷ Need (Monthly Living Expenses)

Your “Have” includes all predictable monthly cash flow, including Social Security, pensions, and disciplined withdrawals from your investment accounts.

Your “Need” is what it genuinely costs to fund your day-to-day life and retirement activities.

“Your Rich Ratio is simply your income divided by your need, Have divided by Need,” Wes says. “If $8,000 a month in income is covering a $10,000 a month lifestyle, your ratio is 0.8, and no matter how big the account balance looks on paper, you’re financially strained until that ratio crosses back above 1.”

A portfolio worth $1.5 million might seem substantial, but if your spending burns through it faster than the portfolio can sustainably generate income, you are operating at a structural deficit. Before you step away from your paycheck, your Rich Ratio must be at or above 1.0 — meaning your dependable cash flow cleanly covers your living costs.

4. Overlooking the Long-Term Bite of Inflation

While dramatic, short-term spikes in consumer prices grab headlines, the more dangerous threat to your golden years is the quiet, compounding nature of rising costs over decades.

“Inflation is the quiet retirement killer because it doesn’t necessarily show up as a single bad year,” says Wes. “It compounds silently for decades and erodes purchasing power for anyone whose income isn’t structured to grow alongside it.”

If a basket of goods costs $5,000 a month when you retire at age 65, standard historical inflation will roughly double that cost by the time you reach your mid-80s. Relying strictly on flat, fixed-income sources means your real purchasing power gets halved over the course of a normal retirement. A well-constructed retirement strategy must maintain exposure to assets — such as dividend-growing equities — that have historically outpaced inflation.

5. Taking on Too Much Investment Risk

After extended bull markets, it is easy for investors to become complacent about market volatility. However, shifting from the accumulation phase of your working years to the distribution phase of retirement requires a fundamental change in risk management.

“Markets have been remarkably strong for the past 10 years, but markets don’t know or care when you personally decide to retire, and a multi-year bear market that hits right at the start of retirement can wreck an otherwise solid plan,” Wes cautions.

Wes notes that the remedy is not retreating entirely to cash and missing out on future market growth. Instead, it comes down to smart portfolio structure:

“The fix isn’t avoiding stocks, it’s baking in ‘dry powder’ to your asset allocation. This means having 3 or more years’ worth (of spending) assets held in cash and/or bonds sized to support your income gap, so you’re not forced to sell stock assets during a major correction.”

By holding three or more years of your net living expenses (your spending needs minus guaranteed sources like Social Security) in stable, liquid assets, you create an essential buffer. If a prolonged downturn hits the market, you can draw from your cash and bond reserves to pay the bills, giving your stock portfolio the time it needs to fully rebound without locking in steep paper losses.

Final Thoughts

A comfortable retirement doesn’t require predicting market tops or taking outsized speculative bets. By locking in a mortgage payoff timeline under nine years, getting on the same page with your spouse, keeping your Rich Ratio over 1.0, planning for decades of inflation, and buffering your portfolio with dry powder, you set up a framework designed to protect your wealth and your peace of mind.
The post 5 of the Most Common Retirement Planning Mistakes appeared first on Clark Howard.

The company’s Cybercab rollout won’t be as broad as some investors had hoped.

Micron is reportedly increasing production capacity of a more profitable memory offering that’s in high demand due to AI.

Long-term Treasurys are paying yields around 5%, giving investors an opportunity to lock in attractive income for decades.

But there’s still one major unknown: inflation.

A 5% return may look great today, but its buying power depends on how much prices rise over the years ahead. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, commonly called TIPS, offer a different approach. Instead of trying to predict inflation, investors can lock in a return designed to stay ahead of it.

Here’s how TIPS work, how to buy them, how they compare with regular Treasurys and I bonds, and why their current yields have caught investors’ attention.

What Are TIPS and How Do They Work?

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities are U.S. government securities designed to protect investors from inflation.

TIPS are available in terms of five, 10 and 30 years. The easiest way to understand how they work is to think about them as having two elements:

A fixed interest rate. When a TIPS is issued, its interest rate (coupon rate) is set and does not change. Interest is paid every six months.

A principal value that adjusts with inflation. The amount you have invested rises or falls based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Those two pieces work together.

Suppose you buy $10,000 in TIPS with a 2% interest rate. Initially, 2% of $10,000 would equal $200 in interest per year, paid in two semiannual payments.

Now suppose inflation causes the principal to increase to $10,300. The interest rate is still 2%, but it is now applied to $10,300 instead of $10,000. That works out to $206 in annual interest.

As inflation continues to increase the principal, the dollar amount of your interest payments generally increases too.

That’s the key feature of TIPS: Inflation increases both the amount you ultimately get back and the dollar amount of interest you receive along the way.

If you hold an individual TIPS until maturity, you receive the inflation-adjusted principal or the security’s original face value, whichever is greater.

Here’s an illustration of how a hypothetical $10,000 TIPS investment with a fixed 2% coupon rate would have adjusted using actual annual inflation rates from 2016 through 2025.

How a $10,000 TIPS investment with a 2% coupon rate would have adjusted for inflation, 2016 to 2025

Year
Calendar year
Inflation rate
Starting principal
Inflation adjustment
Ending adjusted principal
Annual interest (2.0%)
Semi-annual payment (avg)

Year 1
2016
2.07%
$10,000.00
$207.00
$10,207.00
$204.14
~$102.07

Year 2
2017
2.11%
$10,207.00
$215.37
$10,422.37
$208.45
~$104.22

Year 3
2018
1.91%
$10,422.37
$199.07
$10,621.44
$212.43
~$106.21

Year 4
2019
2.29%
$10,621.44
$243.23
$10,864.67
$217.29
~$108.65

Year 5
2020
1.36%
$10,864.67
$147.76
$11,012.43
$220.25
~$110.12

Year 6
2021
7.04%
$11,012.43
$775.28
$11,787.71
$235.75
~$117.88

Year 7
2022
6.45%
$11,787.71
$760.31
$12,548.02
$250.96
~$125.48

Year 8
2023
3.35%
$12,548.02
$420.36
$12,968.38
$259.37
~$129.68

Year 9
2024
2.89%
$12,968.38
$374.78
$13,343.16
$266.86
~$133.43

Year 10
2025
2.74%
$13,343.16
$365.60
$13,708.76
$274.18
~$137.09

The coupon rate stays at 2%, but it is applied to a principal that grows with inflation, so the dollar amount of each interest payment rises along with prices. At maturity you receive the inflation-adjusted principal. Interest is paid twice a year, so each payment is roughly half the annual amount. Figures are illustrative and use annual inflation rates rather than the daily index ratio the Treasury applies.

One important point is that the inflation adjustments build on each other, just as inflation does. If a carton of eggs costs $4 and the price rises 3% annually for 10 years, it would cost about $5.38. If it then rises another 10%, that increase applies to $5.38 — not the original $4 price. TIPS work similarly: Each inflation adjustment is applied to the already-adjusted principal. Over time, the principal reflects the cumulative change in inflation, helping the investment maintain its purchasing power. You can see how inflation compounds over time using our inflation calculator.

How Do You Buy TIPS?

You can buy TIPS either directly from the U.S. government through TreasuryDirect or through a brokerage account.

TreasuryDirect allows you to buy newly issued TIPS at Treasury auctions. You can also buy newly issued TIPS through many brokerage firms.

A brokerage gives you another option: buying existing TIPS on the secondary market.

That’s where price becomes especially important. An existing TIPS may trade for more or less than its inflation-adjusted principal value depending on market conditions. If you pay a premium for a TIPS on the secondary market, the Treasury’s guarantee at maturity doesn’t protect that premium.

That’s also why you shouldn’t look only at a TIPS’ coupon rate when shopping. The yield to maturity — and, specifically for TIPS, the real yield — reflects the price you’re paying and provides a better picture of the return you could earn if you hold the security until maturity.

What’s the Difference Between TIPS and I Bonds?

If you’re a longtime Clark Howard listener, you may know that the money expert has held another inflation-protected investment, Series I Savings Bonds, commonly called I Bonds, since the 1990s. He has recently recommended I Bonds again.

While both TIPS and I bonds offer inflation protection and are backed by the federal government, they work very differently.

Think of I bonds as an inflation-protected savings tool for a small portion of your portfolio and TIPS as an inflation-protected investment that can be used within a larger bond portfolio.

Another important distinction is price stability. I bonds do not trade on the open market, so their value does not fluctuate based on investor demand or changing interest rates. TIPS are marketable securities, which means their price can rise or fall if you sell before maturity.

Why Are TIPS Particularly Interesting Right Now?

TIPS have offered inflation protection for decades. What makes them particularly interesting now is the amount investors can earn in addition to that protection.

As of Aug. 31, 2026, Treasury data showed approximate real yields of:

2.18% for five-year TIPS

2.44% for 10-year TIPS

2.99% for 30-year TIPS

Those rates change with market conditions. But they represent an opportunity to lock in a significant positive return above inflation — something investors couldn’t do when real yields were near or below zero.

For a simple example, consider a 10-year TIPS with a real yield of about 2.4%. The investment is designed to deliver a return of roughly 2.4% per year beyond inflation, before taxes, if held to maturity.

If inflation averaged 2%, the investment’s total nominal return would be roughly 4.4%.

If inflation averaged 4%, the nominal return would be roughly 6.4%.

The precise calculation is more complicated, but the central benefit remains the same: The investor doesn’t have to correctly predict inflation to maintain purchasing power.

If Regular Treasurys Yield Around 5%, Why Buy TIPS?

The key difference when comparing regular Treasurys and TIPS is nominal yield vs. real yield.

A regular Treasury’s yield is a nominal yield, which is the return before accounting for inflation. A TIPS’ real yield represents the return above inflation if held to maturity, with inflation protection coming through adjustments to the principal.

A regular Treasury may outperform TIPS if inflation turns out to be lower than investors expect. TIPS may outperform if inflation is higher than expected.

One way to compare the two is with the breakeven inflation rate. This is calculated by subtracting the real yield on a TIPS from the nominal yield on a regular Treasury with a similar maturity.

For example, on Aug. 31, 2026:

The 10-year Treasury yield was about 4.75%.

The 10-year TIPS real yield was about 2.44%.

The difference was approximately 2.31 percentage points.

That 2.31% difference is the approximate breakeven inflation rate.

If inflation averages more than roughly 2.3% over those 10 years, the TIPS would generally be expected to outperform the regular Treasury. If inflation averages less than that, the regular Treasury would generally be expected to do better.

The breakeven rate isn’t a perfect prediction of future inflation. But it provides a useful framework for comparing the two choices.

Your choice between long-term Treasury bonds and TIPS comes down to your personal outlook on inflation: Do you want to bet on a future of persistent low inflation or pay a small premium for built-in inflation insurance?

What Are the Risks and Tax Consequences of TIPS?

TIPS are backed by the federal government, but that doesn’t mean they are completely risk-free.

Their Market Value Can Fall

Like other marketable bonds, the price of a TIPS can rise or fall when interest rates change.

If real interest rates increase after you buy, the market value of your TIPS will generally decline. That may not matter if you hold an individual TIPS until maturity, but you could lose money if you need to sell early.

The longer the maturity, the more sensitive the price will generally be to changing interest rates.

Inflation Adjustments Can Create “Phantom Income”

TIPS can also create an unusual tax issue in a regular brokerage account.

The interest payments and any inflation-driven increases in principal are generally subject to federal income tax in the year they occur. That means you may owe taxes on an increase in principal even though you won’t receive that portion of the money until you sell the TIPS or it matures. TIPS interest and inflation adjustments are exempt from state and local income taxes.

This is sometimes called phantom income because you’re taxed on income you haven’t yet received in cash.

Holding TIPS in a tax-advantaged retirement account can avoid the need to pay taxes on those adjustments each year. However, the eventual tax treatment depends on the type of account. Withdrawals from a traditional IRA or 401(k), for example, are generally taxable, while qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free.

Taxes shouldn’t automatically determine where you hold an investment, but they are an important consideration for where TIPS fit into your portfolio.

Final Thoughts

Locking in around 5% with a long-term Treasury sounds attractive. But what ultimately matters is how much purchasing power that money retains after inflation.

TIPS give investors another option: Instead of trying to guess what inflation will be, you can lock in a return above it.

That doesn’t make TIPS a replacement for stocks — or necessarily the right choice for your entire bond allocation. They are a tool designed for one particular job: protecting part of your portfolio from unexpected inflation.

For investors who want that protection and are comfortable with their nuance, today’s positive real yields make TIPS worth a closer look.

The post TIPS: The Inflation-Proof Alternative to Standard Bonds appeared first on Clark Howard.

Tamia opens up about 30 years in music, one billion Spotify streams, “Forever And A Day,” and why her timeless R&B catalog keeps finding new listeners.

When people talk about shoplifting and organized retail crime (ORC), they tend to focus on the bottom-line impact on businesses. That makes sense because the numbers aren’t small, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) The Impact of Theft & Violence 2026 report.

“The 2026 report demonstrates a concerning shift as criminals move beyond traditional shoplifting to more sophisticated external theft schemes, with retailers reporting higher rates of repeat offenders (50%), ORC-related incidents (40%), and walkout or pushout theft (37%). Fraud is also rising, with phone scams (69%), loyalty fraud (51%) and gift card theft or fraud (42%) increasing,” the data showed.

The NRF, however, does not focus on how theft and thieves impact frontline retail workers.

A new report from HALOS, a bodycam company used by Walmart, Target, Kroger, TJ Maxx, H&M, and Aldi, shows that it does, and that the impact is quite severe.

Here’s why frontline retail workers might quit

“Two-thirds of frontline workers have experienced customer aggression acutely enough that they’ve considered leaving their job,” according to HALOS’ study of 2,500 frontline employees.

The report found that nearly two in five of the surveyed workers said customer abuse is treated as “just part of the job” where they work. And nearly 40% say customer aggression has increased over the past 12 months.

In addition, the study found that 57% of frontline workers experienced customer abuse or know a colleague who had during a typical four-week period.

Other key findings included:

Nearly 30% of survey respondents said they did not report the last serious customer aggression incident they experienced.

Of those, 32% said they did not believe the incident was serious enough, 28% believed nothing would happen if they reported it, and 13% worried about potential repercussions.

When incidents were reported, only 43% said action was ultimately taken.

“The research also found weaknesses in reporting processes themselves. Nearly one-third of respondents said reporting takes too much time during an active shift, and only 55% believe reporting leads to meaningful action,” according to HALOS.

Technology can help prevent aggression against workers.Shutterstock

Management has to play an active role in worker safety

Back when I ran a large toy store in Manchester, Conn., I occasionally had to deal with aggressive customers. Usually, it was older male shoppers making inappropriate comments to younger, female workers.

In one case, an older man became quite abusive and told multiple workers they were “stupid” because we did not sell the items he was looking for.

As the manager, I stepped in, spoke to the customer, and told him that if he spoke to my employees that way, he would be asked to leave the store. He calmed down for that visit, but then on a future trip repeated his abusive comments and was escorted out of the store.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, in 2024, changed how it handled aggressive customers. Under the past policy, every effort was made to appease the customer.

In the past, Dick’s managers would respond to customer conflicts by apologizing to the customer “whether or not we did anything wrong,” Dick’s Chief People Officer Julie Lodge-Jarrett told HRM Executive Network’s People + Strategy Podcast.

“Step two would be to remove the front-line employee from the situation and do anything possible to please the customer,” she added.

That was not a popular policy with workers, and the company now uses a new script.

“Sir, I can tell you’re unhappy, and I would like to do everything I can to help you get what you came in here for today. But I want to start by saying that at Dick’s Sporting Goods, we don’t tolerate a lack of respect, and we expect that everyone’s treated with the dignity that they deserve. And how you’re treating my teammate is unacceptable. So we’ve got two choices. You can choose to be civil, and if you do, I’d love to help you get what you came here for. Or if you don’t think you can do that, I’d politely ask you to leave.”

That’s a change from apologizing to the customer “whether or not we did anything wrong,” Lodge-Jarrett said, and the move helped improve worker satisfaction.

Losing workers is expensive

A study conducted by The Josh Bersin Company and UKG showed that while 80% of all jobs are frontline workers, 75% of the people in those positions felt “burned out,” and 51% felt “like a number, not a person.”

That’s an opportunity companies are missing out on because even small improvements have a big impact on the bottom line.

“For example, the report reveals that even a 1% improvement in retention can yield up to 100X savings in cost, training, and performance — a powerful case for investing in a truly frontline-first technology platform that delivers a seamless, positive worker experience,” the data showed.

UKG showed two key ways companies can cut down on frontline worker churn.

Leading companies recognize the importance of this workforce segment. They offer above-average wages, high degrees of flexibility, safe and productive workplaces, and career development opportunities.

Invest in frontline management. Top companies prioritize developing new leaders and equipping them with the tools to lead effectively. This includes workforce planning, work scheduling, recruiting, development, engagement, and lots of peer support so managers can learn from one another. They also establish carefully defined management principles that everyone can follow.

Protecting workers from aggressive customers goes a long way toward worker retention, according to HALOS CEO Alan Ring.

“Customer aggression is no longer simply a security issue. It’s affecting whether frontline employees feel safe, supported, and willing to remain in their jobs. Employers need to make incidents easier to report, respond consistently, and give staff clear evidence that their concerns lead to action,” he said.

Walmart, Target, Kroger, TJ Maxx, H&M, and Aldi did not confirm that they use HALOS or any other bodycam technology. None of the chains contributed to this article.

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On Tuesday, the House, like the Senate had done a month ago, voted for a continuing resolution that would delay the new White House OMB rule until at least December 11.

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Anyone who shops at TJ Maxx or Marshalls knows the routine. You walk in without a list, dig through the racks, and leave with something you did not plan to buy.

That treasure-hunt habit has powered The TJX Companies (TJX) for decades.

So when the company’s flagship Marmaxx division posted its softest sales growth in years, shoppers and shareholders both noticed.

The stock has slid, down about 16% over the past month as of Sept. 3.

Yet one major bank is telling clients to look past the dip.

Why Morgan Stanley still rates TJX stock a buy

In a Morgan Stanley research note shared with me, analyst Alex Straton reiterated an Overweight rating and a $178 price target on TJX.

Straton, who leads Morgan Stanley’s softlines and off-price retail coverage and rates rivals Ross Stores (ROST) and Burlington (BURL), frames TJX as a “consumer compounder.” 

It refers to a business that keeps growing profits steadily through good times and bad.

Overweight is Morgan Stanley’s version of a buy call. It means the bank expects the stock to outperform its retail peers over the next 12 to 18 months.

The $178 target sits roughly 35% above where TJX traded in early September, near $131.

TJX beat overall expectations, even as its Marmaxx division posted its weakest comparable sales in years.SOPA Images / Getty Images

What actually went wrong inside Marmaxx stores

Marmaxx is TJX’s largest segment, combining TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and the smaller Sierra chain, whose sales are folded into Marmaxx’s results.

Comparable sales there rose just 1% in the second quarter, according to TJX‘s earnings report, well below the 6% to 7% growth logged at HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International.

Morgan Stanley points to three fixable problems rather than a broken business.

1. Empty racks despite full backrooms

Understaffed teams and messy storage rooms meant inventory sat hidden in the back instead of moving onto the sales floor. That left shoppers staring at gaps on the shelves, even when the product existed in the building.

2. Missed calls on basics and back-to-school

Rivals leaned harder into everyday apparel basics and moved earlier on back-to-school goods, so Marmaxx was caught with the wrong mix at the wrong time.

3. Beauty complaints and pricing pressure

According to Reddit discussions tracked by the bank, shoppers noticed damaged packaging in the beauty aisle, threatening what is normally a highly profitable section.

Straton also questions whether Marmaxx’s reputation for low prices is shrinking as other retailers cut prices more aggressively.

CEO Ernie Herrman was blunt on the earnings call, calling the shortfall “self-inflicted and within our control,” Investing.com reported.

How the rest of TJX covered the shortfall

Even with its biggest division stalling, TJX still beat expectations across the board.

Overall comparable sales rose 4%, adjusted earnings per share climbed 11% to $1.22, ahead of the $1.19 analysts expected, and the company’s management raised its full-year profit outlook.

HomeGoods did the heavy lifting, with comparable sales up 7% and net sales jumping 10% to $2.5 billion.

Three signs the wider portfolio held up:

HomeGoods, Canada, and International each grew comparable sales 6% to 7%.

Adjusted pre-tax margin widened to 11.9%, up 50 basis points from a year earlier.

Management lifted its long-term store target by 500 locations, to 7,500 stores.

That variety of brands is the whole argument. When one engine slows, the others keep the profits growing.

What Morgan Stanley’s price target really assumes

The $178 target is not a single guess. It sits at the midpoint of two scenarios the bank models.

Bull case, $197: TJX fixes Marmaxx quickly and holds mid-single-digit comparable sales across every banner.

Base case, $158: Execution problems drag on, and medium-term comparable sales fall below the roughly 4% the bank expects.

Even Morgan Stanley’s more cautious $158 outcome would still put TJX above its early-September price, and its optimistic case implies a much larger gain.

TJX stock vs. the broader market

Here is how TJX has traded against the S&P 500.

PeriodTJXS&P 500Past 5 daysDown about 3%Roughly flatPast monthDown about 16%Modest gainYear to dateDown about 14%Up about 13%

The company still generates steady free cash flow and pays a dividend yielding about 1.4%, with a quarterly payout of $0.48 a share.

What still needs to happen before the recovery sticks

Management says Marmaxx improved in August and expects comparable sales there to climb back toward 2% to 3% by the fourth quarter.

Getting there is not free. The company will likely spend more on store labor, marketing, and sharper pricing to win shoppers back.

More Retail Stocks:

Ross Stores customers will soon feel a notable change in stores

Major mall retailer closes more stores in 2026

Target takes big step to be more like Costco

There are also near-term costs to watch. 

TJX flagged higher fuel and freight expenses in the back half, and inventory grew 7% heading into the holidays, so that merchandise needs to sell.

That matters because American shoppers are working with tight budgets. Discount chains usually see more business when money is tight, and competitors are experiencing this directly. 

What TJX investors should watch next

Morgan Stanley’s message is that one weak quarter at Marmaxx does not undo the case for TJX.

The company beat expectations, widened margins, and raised guidance even while its largest division stumbled, which is exactly what the bank wants a diversified retailer to do under pressure.

The risk is real. If Marmaxx’s sales remain slow through the holiday season and higher operating costs reduce profits, the base case target of $158 becomes the most likely result. 

If that happens, long-term investors may have to wait longer to see a return. 

For now, the buy call rests on one question. Can TJX get the right products back on the floor before the crowds arrive? 

The company’s management says the solution is already underway, and Morgan Stanley is betting it works.

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