Daily Rundown
September 9, 2026
Chart of the Day
Number of the Day
$15.3 billion
The increase in nonrevolving credit outstanding in July, the largest increase in more than three years
Quote of the Day
“My problem is that no one wants to work. I have advertised in all the areas I know of, and we have had a total of zero applications. In 30 years of business, this has never happened.”
Respondent to the August NFIB survey
Tuesday’s Highlights
The NFIB small business optimism index (August) slipped to 98.7 from a prior 99.8
Consumer credit (July) jumped by $18.1 billion, led by the nonrevolving component.
Household inflation expectations (August) fell modestly for a second straight month.
Quick Commentary
Inflation expectations are coming down only slowly, but it is telling that, despite elevated energy prices, they have remained well below the peaks of mid-2022. Market-based measures are also well south of their levels of four years ago, another sign that Federal Reserve credibility remains intact and that aggressive monetary tightening is still not warranted.
Today’s Highlight
Mortgage applications
Daily Trivia
What concept can be traced to the opening of Toyota’s Koromo plant in 1938, although it wasn’t popularized in the U.S. until Richard Schonberger’s 1982 book Japanese Manufacturing Techniques?
(Tuesday’s Question: What company went from having the longest name in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the shortest when it legally adopted its globally recognized brand name in 2002? Answer: 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing))