Daily Rundown
- Chief Strategist, Bryan Jordan CFA
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
March 20, 2026
Chart of the Day
Number of the Day
9.7 - The months of supply of new homes on the market in January, up from 8.0 in the prior month and the most since late 2022
Quote of the Day
"And at this point, we are assuming that the broader global demand from (fiscal) Q3 continues into Q4, and our first two weeks of March are essentially in line with that trend." - FedEx CEO Rajesh Subramaniam
Thursday's Highlights
Initial unemployment claims (week of 3/8) fell by 8,000 to a two-month low 205,000.
New home sales (January) fell by 17.6 percent to a 39-month low annual pace of 587,000.
The index of leading indicators (January) moved lower by 0.1 percent, a 43rd decline in the last 47 months.
The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index (March) improved to 18.1 from a prior 16.3.
FedEx average daily package volume (December-February) rose by 3.3 percent year-over-year.
Quick Commentary
Soaring net worth is helping to keep consumer spending pointed upward even as the labor market is cooling and uncertainty is elevated. A fair chunk of the increase thus far in the current decade owes to higher inflation -net worth is still not growing quite as fast as it did in the 2010s in real (inflation-adjusted) terms- but there is also likely a money illusion at work, especially among asset-rich households. Just as in the late 1990s, the rise in asset prices is making the markets increasingly important linchpins for the broader economy.
Daily Trivia
What university was nicknamed "Chicago West" in the 1960s and 1970s due to the free-market orientation of its economics department?
(Thursday's Question: What now-defunct tech company's stock price soared by nearly 800 percent in 1979 due to the success of its second-generation personal computer? Answer: Commodore)