Several major project teams recently made a striking assertion at industry conferences: consumer spending remains robust, with no signs of actual weakness emerging. One notable CEO even referenced access to $6 trillion in annual consumer expenditure data during a podcast appearance weeks ago, reinforcing this thesis.

Meanwhile, retail investors appear convinced the market is collapsing. The narrative online is dominated by doom scenarios and capitulation signals.

Here's the disconnect: what if the conventional wisdom is wrong? What if the data these executives are referencing tells a completely different story than what social media sentiment suggests? The gap between institutional-level spending metrics and retail market psychology has rarely been wider.