Today's topics include tariff price impacts, how can we get lower rates?, markets will be the ultimate determinant of how much debt is too much, how far can equities go?, thoughts on the deficit, dollar bearishness, Japan & U.S. restart trade talks, Fedspeak, ECB reaching the end of its cutting cycle, alternative benchmarking & performance, and stablecoin risk & regulation
57% of households owning mutual funds make more than $100k per year.
Active equity mutual funds continue to charge more than 10x the fees of passive equity mutual funds.
Domestic equity index funds with the lowest fees saw the large majority of inflows in 2024.
44% of U.S. households own an IRA. The difference in ownership between the highest and lowest income buckets is staggering.
Equity ETFs accounted for 27% of stock market volume in the U.S. in 2024.
A look at the holdings of government-only money market funds versus prime money market funds
A long-term look at retail gasoline prices
Some interesting charts from our recent posts
In the latest installment of Talking Data, Jim discusses proper rate levels.
Today's topics include previewing tomorrow's payroll report, cutbacks at the BLS affecting data collection, an update on tariff pricing, the CBO weighs in on the big beautiful bill & tariffs, an eye on government auctions, activist Treasury issuance, alternatives to the dollar, and the dollar's worst start to a year since 1973