Inflation Leader
Our nickname for this week’s indicator is the “inflation leader.” Why? Because it tends to lead the broader measures of inflation—like the Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index—and can therefore warn us when inflationary pressures are building. The...
Rolling Returns
The writer Jason Zweig once wrote that regression to the mean is the most powerful law in financial physics. By this, he meant that after a period of really good stock market returns, we can expect things to cool down, and after a rough patch, there’s a...
Extra Cash
The stock market runs on cash. For this week’s featured indicator, we highlight a measure of excess cash in the banking system—called free reserves—and discuss why fluctuations in this measure can affect stock prices. But first, what exactly are free reserves?...
Bond Yield Momentum
Stocks have done exceptionally well over the past month, and a major reason for this success is the recent decline in interest rates. In fact, as our featured indicator this week shows, stocks perform the best when a metric called “bond yield momentum” is...
Financial Focus – November 29th, 2023
Check out this week’s episode of Financial Focus, where hosts Nate Kreinbrink and Mike Steigerwald discuss the holiday season and emphasize the significance of year-end financial planning. The program covers topics such as Roth conversions, tax planning, and the limited time available before the year-end deadline. They also highlight the ease of updating beneficiary designations on various accounts and stress the importance of having open conversations with family about financial plans during the holidays.