Daily Rundown

May 5, 2026

Chart of the Day

Number of the Day

1.63 - The inventory/shipments ratio for electrical equipment in March, equaling the lowest in more than ten years

Quote of the Day

"We will at some point need to be lowering interest rates to reflect the fact that inflation is lower. Inflation is higher this year than previously expected, so that pushes off a date of lowering interest rates in my view, but it doesn't change that basic story." - New York Fed President John Williams

Monday's Highlight

Factory orders (March) rose by 1.5 percent. Core capital goods orders jumped 3.4 percent, the most since mid-2020.

Quick Commentary

The big increase in capital goods orders last month was likely driven in part by higher prices for tech inputs (note that the PPI for electronic components was up by a cumulative 12.1 percent in February and March), but, as last week's GDP report showed, real growth in this category has been robust of late, as well. This is also reflected in the falling I/S ratio for electrical equipment, which itself suggests both more production and more price pressures for AI-related components going forward.

Today's Highlights

ISM services survey

Job openings

New home sales

Trade balance

Daily Trivia

Thanks to healthy population growth and rising commodity prices, what developed country recorded a record-breaking expansion of more than 28 years between 1991 and 2020?

(Monday's Question: What Nobel Prize-winning economist starred in a PBS television series in 1980, in part to serve as an ideological counterpoint to an earlier series featuring John Kenneth Galbraith? Answer: Milton Friedman)