Now, this week we’re really going off the rails and doing something different. And in doing so, I’m going to keep this very brief, as I’d love for you to use some of the time you’re saving by not reading a longer weekly update to do something else instead. So what am I asking you to do?
Well, there is a nonprofit I’ve been following for the last five years or so called USAFacts. They are a nonpartisan civic initiative that makes government data easy for everyone (their words, not mine). They started in 2017, when former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wanted to know how the government was spending our tax dollars. What he found was kind of a mess. The data was scattered all over the place and offered little clarity. And with that, he started USAFacts as a resource to aggregate the data and make it digestible.
That brings us to today (or, more accurately, a little over a week ago), when USAFacts produced its first-ever “Just the Facts Debate.” The debate topic was “The American Dream at 250.” It featured a professional moderator (Geoff Bennett of PBS NewsHour), a fact desk that teed up each section with real data (presented by Ballmer), and two well-known personalities for the head-to-head discussion: Scott Galloway (professor at NYU Stern School of Business, entrepreneur, and podcaster) vs. Ben Shapiro (Harvard Law graduate, entrepreneur, and media creator).
Now, going in, you may already have preconceived notions based on the debaters. But I’m going to challenge you to watch the entire thing, and yes, it’s 75 minutes. It is without a doubt not made for today’s micro-attention-span generation that consumes things in 10-second clips, but that’s the point. It’s a long-form, respectful debate where two people with significant experience and accomplishments offer differing points of view and make compelling arguments. I can almost guarantee you’ll find points you agree and disagree with from each presenter.
So, without further ado, the video is linked below. I hope you watch it. I hope you learn something from it. And finally, I hope we can all agree that, in the midst of the mid-term season, it sure would be nice if political debates worked like this, too.
Markets / Economy
- Markets were mixed again this week on higher volatility and growing concerns about financing the AI buildout. The S&P finished the week down -0.5%, the Nasdaq down -0.7%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 up 2.0%.
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which tracks U.S. homebuilder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes, fell for a second consecutive month to 29 in October, the lowest since June 2012.
- The U.S. Composite PMI eased to 57.6 in October from 58.4 in September, a two-month low, but remained firmly in expansion territory and signaled the second-strongest increase in business activity since March 2022.
Stocks
- U.S. equities were in negative territory. Communication Services and Industrials led the decline, while Energy and Healthcare outperformed. Value stocks led growth stocks, and small caps beat large caps.
- International equities closed lower for the week. Developed markets fared better than emerging markets.
Bonds
- The 10-year Treasury bond yield decreased nine basis points to 5.00% during the week.
- Global bond markets were in positive territory this week.
- Government bonds led for the week, followed by corporate bonds and high-yield bonds.
