Daily Rundown

March 18, 2026

Chart of the Day

Number of the Day

18 - Consecutive months in which the New York Fed's services index has been in negative territory, equaling the longest such streak (2008-09) in the more than two-decade history of the survey

Quote of the Day

"Our consumer is really healthy. We live in the top end of that K that people talk about, the premium end of the K. That group of folks wants to travel. We've seen eight of the top ten sales days in our history this quarter." - Delta CEO Ed Bastian

Tuesday's Highlights

Pending existing home sales (February) rose by 1.8 percent on the month and are now down by 0.6 percent year-over-year.

The New York Fed's services index (March) improved modestly to -22.6 from a prior -25.7.

Quick Commentary

Delta's comments yesterday suggest that there is still a pocket of robust consumer spending that, at least to this point, hasn't been shaken by recent rise in energy prices or the elevated level of uncertainty. This is likely a reflection of the relatively limited layoff activity to date and the ongoing wealth effects from the booming stock market and, as a consequence, the importance of tracking jobless claims and asset prices as key leading indicators of consumption growth from here.

Today's Highlights

FOMC meeting

PPI

Factory orders

Mortgage applications

Macy's earnings

Daily Trivia

What city was surprisingly passed over for a regional Federal Reserve bank in 1914 despite being the largest market in its region and having one of the world's busiest ports?

(Tuesday's Question: 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"? Answer: Shamrock Shake)