For the week ended 3/14/26. Okay, things are starting to get more interesting. And by that I’m (unfortunately) not referring to March Madness brackets, but rather to a couple of economic data points released last week that may give our friends at the Federal Open Market Committee a bit of heartburn. First up – and something that largely escaped the attention of the mainstream press – was the second revision of fourth-quarter GDP, which showed the economy was significantly wea

For the week ended 3/7/26. Well, good morning and welcome to the first full week of market activity while the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate. While this has obviously had a major impact on oil prices, we’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s take a look at the latest jobs data – and it was a doozy. Bottom line: the U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected and fairly widespread downturn for a labor market that has been showing signs of str

For week ended 2/28/26. Here’s a plot twist for you: global trade didn’t collapse under tariff drama in 2025 – it accelerated. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, the volume of goods crossing borders rose 4.4% in 2025, up from 2.5% in 2024. Not exactly the slowdown many predicted. In fact, the World Trade Organization had forecasted weaker trade growth last year due to U.S. tariff increases. So much for that. Reality check: Several original tarif

For the week ended 2/21/26. Ouch! Fourth-quarter GDP came in at 1.4%, a noticeable deceleration from Q3’s eye-popping 4.4% and well below the 2.5% economists had penciled in. For the full year, growth cooled to 2.2%, down from 2.4% in 2024 – the slowest pace since 2022. Not disastrous. Not dazzling. Just… slower. But before we light the recession candles, let’s apply a little math. Federal government spending declined at a 16.6% annual rate during the shutdown, shaving nearly