QuickTakes

The most concise analysis of the key variables driving the global economy and financial markets.

Short-form takes on current market events.

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: November 24–28

During this holiday-shortened week, investors will receive a cornucopia of data now that the government is open again. Some of the data will be a bit stale. But they should indicate how Q3 ended for the economy. September’s retail

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MARKET CALL: Time To Meditate

The S&P 500 is back on a slower track than the fast track it was on since April 9 until the end of October. It no longer is outpacing its average year-to-date performance over the past 10 years (chart).

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To Bail Or Not To Bail?

Good news bears were on the loose today. It was a risk-off day in financial markets despite strong earnings and economic news. Nvidia reported better-than-expected Q3 results yesterday after the market closed. This morning, we learned that payroll employment

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Data-Dependent

What do Nvidia and the Fed have in common? They are both data-dependent. Nvidia’s GPUs are the latest stage of the Digital Revolution, which started during the mid-1960s with IBM’s mainframes. The Digital Revolution is all about processing ever

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: November 17–21

The week ahead is a pivotal one for market participants seeking some clarity on US growth and the likelihood of another Fed rate cut. Now that the longest-ever government shutdown is over, investors will finally get a look at the September

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MARKET CALL: The Federal Open Mouth Committee

We are surprised that the financial markets were surprised by the hawkish tone of remarks from Fed officials this past week. Collectively, a few participants on the Federal Open Mouth Committee pushed back against market expectations for an imminent rate cut,

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Home Stretch For The Holidays

The S&P 500 closed at 5881.63 at the end of last year. It is up 16.2% since then to 6846.61 today (chart). That beats the average 10.4% ytd gain at this point in the year over the past 10

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Bad Day For the Big Short, Thanks To Dip Buyers

Today was not a good day to be short AI stocks like Nvidia (up 5.8%) and Palantir (8.8%). They both rebounded dramatically, along with other AI stocks following last week’s selloff (chart). Investors and traders bought the dip again.

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: November 10–14

On October 29, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “[W]hat do you do if you’re driving in the fog? You slow down.” He was referring to the lack of economic data due to the government shutdown. The Fed and the

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MARKET CALL: From AI Zen To AI Jitters

The S&P 500 peaked at a record high of 6890.59 on October 28 (chart). It is down 2.4% since then. It retested its 50-day moving average on Friday, falling slightly below it around noon. It then closed the day

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Challenging The Challenger Report

Bond prices rallied and stock prices fell this morning on news that layoffs rose sharply, according to the Challenger Report, which was titled “JOB CUTS SURPASS 1 MILLION; HIGHEST OCTOBER TOTAL SINCE 2003. COMPANIES CITE COST-CUTTING, AI IN OCTOBER.” That

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The ‘Big Short’ Is Shorting AI

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry was portrayed in the film The Big Short. He bet big against the housing market before the 2008 crash and made a fortune. Now, he is taking another “big short” position against Nvidia and Palantir,

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GDP IS HOT

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth in Q3-2025 is 4.0% (saar) today, up from 3.9% on October 27 (chart). After this morning’s Manufacturing ISM Report on Business from the Institute for Supply Management, the nowcast of Q3

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