Daily Rundown

March 17, 2026

Chart of the Day

Number of the Day

25.0 - The NAHB's prospective home buyer traffic index in March, up 3.0 points from the prior month for its first increase since November

Quote of the Day

"And so what we see is the middle to higher income households, we see accelerated trade-in." - Dollar Tree CEO Michael Creedon

Monday's Highlights

Industrial production (February) rose by 0.2 percent, as auto output was up strongly for a second straight month.

The NAHB's home builder sentiment index (March) edged up to 38.0 from a prior 37.0, as buyer traffic and sales expectations both increased.

The Empire State manufacturing index (March) fell to -0.2 from a prior 7.1. The new orders and employment metrics were both higher, however.

Quick Commentary

The manufacturing and housing sectors are both turning in halting recoveries after long periods of stagnation, as the economy more broadly entered this year with a bit of momentum. The key going forward will be whether consumer spending can remain resilient enough in the face of a soft labor market, rising energy prices, and elevated uncertainty to allow these nascent turnarounds to continue. A lapse in consumption would take housing and manufacturing, as well as most of the rest of the economy, down with it.

Today's Highlight

Pending home sales

Daily Trivia

What seasonal product was described by one early reviewer as looking like "it escaped from a science experiment" and by another as "green enough to dye the Chicago River"?

(Monday's Question: In what year did U.S. real GDP surge by a record 13.4 percent, lifted by war mobilization and the lingering momentum from a prior war that had ended just five years earlier? Answer: 1950)