Know The Difference Minute

Existing home sales in July fell 16.6% from a year prior but new home sales are up 31.5%

Government bond yields have been mostly driven by increases in real yields. What does that even mean?

What's the difference? The monthly job reports are a good example.

Most people think business cycles are actual cycles, but they're more like a rollercoaster.

Is the Chinese economy a "ticking timebomb"? Annex Wealth Management's Chief Economist Brian Jacobsen takes a look.

The most visible 20% of spending is moving higher.

Yesterday, Moody’s Investor Services helped trigger a bout of pessimism when it downgraded some banks. Not much actually has changed.

The default rate is headed the wrong way, rising to 3.7% in June.

People don’t think about diversification until it doesn’t work.

Fitch, a credit rating agency, downgraded US government debt from triple-A. Does it matter?

For a long time, job openings far exceeded the number of people actually looking for work. That's changing.

There were a few pleasant surprises in the GDP report.

The big disagreement within the Federal Reserve isn’t about today’s move, but about whether there’s more to come, or, if this is good enough.

China’s politburo, the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party, said the government will step up policy support for the economy.

The Leading Economic Index has been negative 15 months in a row. If it’s leading, how far behind is the economy?

A company earns one dollar less per share than expected and the stock tanks. What gives? Why do little numbers seem to have big effects on markets?

Retail sales in June rose .2% month-over-month. Even the bulletproof food and drinking places category of spending barely increased from May to June.

Is the earnings recession over even before an economic recession has begun? Maybe, but probably not.

The key question is whether lower inflation will stick. It probably will.

Most of the labor market gains have really just been about repairing the damage from the 2020 lockdowns that destroyed more than 22 million jobs.

The gap between services and manufacturing is rarely this large. Historically, when the gap gets this large, it has marked a bottom for manufacturing, but, sadly, also a peak for services.

A trade war with China seems to be a perennial that just mutates into new forms. The latest is a chip war.

The Federal Reserve released results from its latest bank stress tests. Surprising no one, every bank passed.

A key challenge for investors is to not let their political opinions adversely affect their portfolios. Political winds change and they don’t tend to be the biggest drivers of returns in portfolios.

In regards to the weekend 'mutiny' in Russia, maybe investors are simply asking, “What does this really mean for the profitability of corporate America?” Answer: probably not much.

Different markets in different countries have their own dynamics. That’s where there can be a diversification benefit to investing globally.

The Fed's statements about what they *plan* on doing is referred to as “forward guidance.” But, their forward guidance is only as good as their forecasts.

Maybe the housing market is beginning to roar back, but investors should be careful.

Consumers are doing well, but industrial activity isn’t so hot.

The market knows the Fed is flying blind and pushing things too far runs the risk of causing the economy to skid to a stop.

Inflation ramped up in 2021 and crested above 9% in June 2022. The year-on-year inflation reading of 4% in May is better, but still not good.

Employers are maintaining headcounts even as demand softens.

If the writer’s strike stretches to late August, scripted shows stay on the sidelines. Without new content, many will spend more time with Prime Video, Hulu, Max, and Netflix.

If AI can fake a song from Drake and The Weeknd, suddenly, the kidnapped kid or grandchild in jail scam gets a lot more believable.

Reality is going to bite hard for up to 44 million borrowers or about 17% of the US adult population.

Today’s JOLTS report has 10.1 million openings in April, the most since January. That was unexpected and a setback for the Fed.

The chipmaker joins the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Meta, but not everyone gets to stay in the Trillion-Dollar Club.

During the 1849 Gold Rush, the ones who made the real money weren’t out panning for gold. They were the ones selling the picks and shovels to those panning for gold.

Almost 49% are stretched—and it’s up from 42% last year.

Treasury Department officials have asked federal agencies to find wiggle room for payments due before early June in a move to conserve cash.

For a snapshot of the American consumer, take a look at Walmart and their 4600 stores.

Over $1 billion in losses this year due to sticky fingers.

Balances at least 90 days delinquent are up year over year. Credit card delinquencies are rising. So are delinquencies for auto loans.

Roughly 29% of households earning less than $50,000 a year are using credit cards to finance their spending.

Investors fall in love easily with new technology. Let's see if that's the case with Google's new chatbot Palm2.

There are 3 times as many meetings and video calls since February of 2020.

Is it possible to cool the labor market without spiking unemployment? Powell says yes—but it would be "against history".

Hot labor adds to high inflation. But for the 3rd month in a row, the number of available jobs has fallen--now at the lowest level since May of 2021.

According to Indeed, companies are posting fewer jobs, particularly for white-collar roles in software, human resources, banking, and finance.