Learn the numbers
Eight short reads, about four minutes each. Enough to know what you are calling and why the room goes quiet at 8:30.
- 01The jobs reportPayrolls, the unemployment rate, and why the first Friday of the month is the loudest morning in markets.4 min
- 02Inflation: CPI and PCEThe two price gauges, why 0.1 percent matters, and why the Fed watches core PCE.4 min
- 03The Fed decisionWhat the FOMC decides, what hold, cut and hike mean in basis points, and how markets price it before the meeting.4 min
- 04GDPThe broadest scorecard of the economy, why it is quoted as an annualized rate, and why the advance estimate is the one that matters.3 min
- 05Retail sales and the consumerWhy a noisy monthly number about shopping matters, and which part of it economists actually watch.3 min
- 06Weekly jobless claimsThe Thursday number: the fastest labor market signal there is, and how to keep its noise from fooling you.3 min
- 07How consensus worksWhere the line comes from, why surprises move markets more than levels, and how Mini Macro sets the house line.4 min
- 08How to read a printA 90-second checklist for 8:30, the traps that catch new players, and exactly how the game scores.4 min