Markets — measured, not guessed.

Did AI users beat AI sellers — and if so, why? A test of two explanations

At the start of summer 2026, the companies that use AI outperformed the companies that sell it. Here is a clean way to ask why — and to find out. * The “AI users beat AI sellers” story looks much less dramatic once you compare similar companies. At first glance, companies outside

June 2026 FOMC Meeting: No Cut, No Hike And What the Taylor Rule Says About the Fed's Hold

Key Takeaways * The Fed held at 3.50%–3.75% in June, at Kevin Warsh's first meeting. It trimmed the statement and dropped the easing bias, and the dot plot moved from a cut bias to a slight hiking bias. * Unemployment is 4.3%, right on the Fed&

May 2026: Retail Sales Topped Expectations. Where Is the Strength Coming From?

Key Takeaways * Retail sales have come in stronger than expected. The next state-level data, due June 25, will help locate where that strength actually sits. * If the pandemic era is any guide, the strength is probably not concentrated in states where households had the most exposure to rising asset

Is the AI-Era Productivity Shock Hurting Employment? A structural decomposition of technology and non-technology shocks, 1948–2026

Key Takeaways * A structural model estimated on 78 years of U.S. data separates two forces in the labor market: technology shocks, which permanently shift labor productivity, and non-technology shocks, which move employment and output together without any permanent effect on productivity. * Non-technology shocks — a broad category that

Stabilizing, Not Accelerating: Where the Labor Market Could Be Headed Next

The labor market is not collapsing. It is not strengthening. The most honest description is the one the data keeps repeating: stabilizing in a low-hire, low-fire equilibrium, not accelerating. For the next several months that is the operating assumption.

Optimism or pressure? What the data says about why households are saving less.

The personal saving rate has fallen to 2.6%. The Treasury Secretary calls it optimism. Forty years of data say it's something else.

The New-Home Market Isn’t Collapsing. But Prices Are Losing Support.

New home sales fell in April, another sign that deteriorating household financial conditions are cooling housing demand. The rise in new home inventory sets up future price declines.

The consumer is still spending. But the budget is getting tighter.

Today's report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that household budgets are on thin ice. The basic story is simple. Consumer budgets are being squeezed from three sides at once. Prices are still rising. Interest rates are still high. And income growth, after inflation, has been slipping.

Risk repriced: the term premium is on the rise

The 10-year Treasury is climbing into the April PCE print, and the headlines will frame it as an inflation scare or a growth story. The component decomposition shows it's neither.