Just Do It That ubiquitous phrase from one of America’s most extensive athletic footwear and apparel makers seems to have been adopted by most American shoppers. The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that retail sales jumped 0.7% in March, following a strong 0.9%...

The Road to Lower Inflation Takes a Detour The rate of inflation is accelerating. That’s not how we hoped to start this week’s Insights. Take a moment and review Figure 1. The 4-month moving average has broken out of its long-term downward trend (red-dashed lines). On...

No Matter How You Slice It and Dice it… The latest employment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) point to a robust job market. On Friday, the U.S. BLS reported that nonfarm payrolls rose 303,000 in March, well ahead of expectations. It’s not simply...

Inflation Makes a Play, Investors Ignore There was a brief pause as the new year began, but for all practical purposes, markets put on quite a show in the first quarter of 2024, with the Dow, the Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500 Index setting multiple records....