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1 | Did you miss me? – Inflation ticked upward more than expected in January, rising 0.5% from December (the quickest increase since August 2023) and 3% from a year ago. Higher prices for used cars and auto insurance drove much of the increase, though egg prices drove 15% of the overall increase in rising grocery prices. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) |
2 | Looking a little sus – Consumer confidence dropped in February, mainly driven by expectations that inflation will rise again. The decline is a sharp contrast to the surge in consumer confidence that immediately followed the election. Investors are also skeptical; 43% believe stock prices will fall in the next six months, the highest percentage since November 2023. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) |
3 | Cha-ching! – Stocks are having a very nice earnings season so far. More than three-quarters of S&P 500 Index companies have reported positive earnings surprises, and the earnings growth rate is 16.4% for the quarter. If that trend continues, it will be the highest year-over-year growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2021. (Source: FactSet) |
4 | Really made quite a u-ey there – Britain ended 2024 in a rare trade deficit with the US, with a deficit of 164 million pounds in the fourth quarter vs. a 713-million-pound surplus in the third. Excluding big swings seen during COVID-19, this marks the first goods trade deficit Britain has had with the US since 2011. The shift was influenced by several factors, including the country’s shift toward services trade and tariff threats from the Trump administration. (Source: Reuters) |
5 | Don’t forget you still owe me that 29 cents – Zelle, a money transferring and digital-payment network, crossed $1 trillion in total volume in 2024—the largest ever for a peer-to-peer platform. The firm, which launched in 2017, reported that its user base jumped 12% to 151 million accounts in 2024, and the total dollars sent on the platform jumped 27% vs. 2023. (Source: CNBC) |
6 | With a little help from my (robot) friends – A growing number of the Gen Z workforce is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to work more efficiently and to problem solve. Of the cohort, 97% report using two or more AI tools a week, while 79% of Millennials report doing the same. (Source: Axios) |
7 | Where’s Bob the Builder when you need him? – By 2030, the US population 80 and older is expected to increase by more than 4 million people and, within that same timeframe, the senior-housing market is expected to move from a glut to a shortage. To meet demands, the industry would need to develop twice as many units as it has ever developed in any single calendar year every year to keep up. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) |
8 | Don’t look at my screentime, though, okay? – Mobile device users racked up an astonishing 4.2 trillion hours on their phones in 2024, about 3.5 hours a day per person. Social media was by far the most time-consuming group of apps, taking up 2.4 trillion hours, led by TikTok. In-app purchases surpassed $150 billion for the first time ever. (Source: Sensor Tower) |
9 | And I enjoyed every single bite – Americans shelled out a record $18.6 billion for Super Bowl snacks, drinks, and other celebratory necessities, or an average of nearly $92 a person. That spending is more than $1 billion higher than last year's. (Source: National Retail Federation) |
10 | K. Dot tops Kings of Pop – Super Bowl LIX captivated an average of 127.7 million viewers, setting a new record as the most-watched Super Bowl ever with a 3% increase from last year's audience. The halftime show, headlined by Kendrick Lamar, also made history by attracting 133.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched halftime performance ever and surpassing Michael Jackson’s 1993 performance. (Source: Yahoo) |
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