Feeling seasick yet?  As of 9/13, nearly half (46%) of trading days in the S&P 500 Index have ended up or down by 1%. Compared to the previous 20 calendar years, that’s already the third-highest percentage of 1% swings—and we still have 73 trading days to go in 2022. Only 2008 and 2002 had more 1% swings. (Source: Morningstar)

The worst kind of overachiever: At 6.3%, the August Core CPI reading marked its 16th consecutive month above the 50-year average of 3%. (Source: Factset)

Feeling topsy-turvy: The 2 year-10 year curve has been inverted (meaning short-term bonds have higher yields than long-term bonds) for more than 57 straight days (7/5/2022 through 9/13/2022). To find a longer streak—157 days—you’d have to go back to 2006-2007. (Source: Bloomberg)

Still keeping the doctor away: Apple is the only FAANMG (a group of major successful tech stocks: Facebook/Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, and Google/Alphabet) constituent to outperform the S&P 500 Index YTD. So far, just eight stocks—the FAANMGs, Tesla, and NVIDIA—have accounted for roughly half of the Index’s returns as of 9/9. (Source: Factset)

Carrying the team: The energy sector is expected to be the largest contributor to earnings growth for the S&P 500 Index for the third quarter. Excluding energy, forecasted earnings would actually decline. (Source: FactSet)

No first-week jitters here: The UK’s new prime minister Liz Truss has laid out a plan to cap household energy costs at £2,500 (approximately $3,000) per year for the next two years, with the government set to pay energy suppliers the amount over the cap. Initial estimates put the cost of this debt-funded program at more than £100 billion (~$117 billion). (Source: Reuters)

Really red or really blue: Out of the 435 House seats that are up for election this fall, the Cook Political Report only classifies 32 seats (7%) as a toss-up that either party could win. (Source: The Cook Political Report, 9/13/22)

Putting a price tag on health: A 65-year-old couple retiring this year can expect to spend an average of $315,000 in healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement. (Source: Fidelity)

In good company: On September 1, 2022, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had 15 more home runs than any other player in Major League Baseball. Judge and MLB legend Babe Ruth are the only players to enter the month of September with a lead of at least 15 home runs. Ruth accomplished this feat five times in his career. (Source: Elias Sports)

Winter is coming: 9.9 million viewers streamed or watched the premiere of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” on the day of its release. This is the largest audience of any new original series premiere in the history of HBO. The budget for each episode is about $20 million, compared to about $15 million per episode for the final season of the original "Game of Thrones" series. (Source: Variety)