  After a brief review of current ideas on stripe order in cuprate
high-temperature superconductors, we discuss the quasiparticle Nernst effect in
the cuprates, with focus on its evolution in non-superconducting stripe and
related nematic states. In general, we find the Nernst signal to be strongly
enhanced by nearby van-Hove singularities and Lifshitz transitions in the band
structure, implying that phases with translation symmetry breaking often lead
to a large quasiparticle Nernst effect due to the presence of multiple small
Fermi pockets. Open orbits may contribute to the Nernst signal as well, but do
so in a strongly anisotropic fashion. We discuss our results in the light of
recent proposals for a specific Lifshitz transition in underdoped YBCO and make
predictions for the doping dependence of the Nernst signal.
