Pricey

Pricey

  The stock market is starting to look expensive. As our chart this week highlights, the S&P 500’s price-to-book (P/B) ratio just hit 5.14—record territory. Historically, the P/B ratio, which compares the market’s value of companies to their book...
Perspective

Perspective

  A quarter century of stock market returns is in the books, and what a journey it’s been! So, how do things stack up? As the chart above shows, the S&P 500 Total Return Index—which includes dividends—has surged an impressive 538.8% over the past 25 years....
Going Up

Going Up

  This week’s chart highlights the surge in the term premium on U.S. Treasuries—the extra return investors demand for holding long-term bonds instead of short-term ones. Think of it like asking for a bigger reward to lock your money away for longer because the...
Neutral Shift

Neutral Shift

  The Federal Reserve shook up financial markets this week, with stocks sliding after yet another rate cut. But it wasn’t the cut itself that rattled investors—it was the Fed’s revised projection for the “neutral rate,” shown in green on the chart. This neutral...
U.S. Leadership Persists

U.S. Leadership Persists

  The United States is leading the pack in terms of global economic growth. It might surprise some, but the U.S. economy has remained resilient, growing faster than other countries—and the stock market has kept pace. To illustrate, our chart this week compares...
Pump Relief

Pump Relief

  This week’s chart delivers some great news for drivers and shoppers alike: gas prices are dropping! According to data from the American Automobile Association, the national average price of regular unleaded gasoline has dipped to nearly $3 per gallon, the...