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Economic Outlook: Archive

John Blank

The Great U.S. Home Mortgage Lock-In

The average 30-year fixed U.S. mortgage rate sat at 3.11% in 2020 and 2.96% in 2021. A full 48-52% of existing U.S. mortgages carried a rate lower than 4.0%, while 20% of active U.S. mortgages remained locked in below 3.0%.

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John Blank

Fresh Insight from FRED Generative "AI" Data

In the near term, there's a clear "AI" share valuation risk.

John Blank

Welcome to the Current U.S. Macro Set-Up

Despite aggressive Fed monetary tightening, underlying U.S. domestic demand has remained resilient and well-anchored, without collapsing into a recession.

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John Blank

How to Use the Monthly BLS Jobs Report

If you go to the bottom of the BLS summary, you can extract a revised 'signal' from the fresher monthly march of data revision 'noise.'

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John Blank

The State of the Economy for Manufacturing

The swift rise of AI has already shifted the manufacturing landscape. That structural shift has major implications, for jobs, for products, and, of course, for stocks.

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John Blank

Zacks Expectations for Fed Policy: April Econ Outlook

They can cut policy rates to lift a tepid U.S. jobs market. Then, accept a 'hot' 3.0%+ annual broad CPI rate, with the latest energy shock. Or raise the policy rate to slow inflation down. Holding the Fed Funds rate flat should be the compromise, for now.

John Blank

Want a Credible Wall Street View? Zacks March 2026 Strategy

Jan Hatzius' latest extensive comments, including a research brief released on March 5th, specifically address the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on the domestic and global economy.

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John Blank

Scaling Up: How Increasing Inputs Make A.I. More Capable

"The path to recent advanced AI systems has been more about building larger systems than making scientific breakthroughs."

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John Blank

Final U.S. Q3 Real GDP Growth at +4.3%. GDPNow for Q4? +5.1%

Want another "nothing is really moving off the 2024 real GDP trend" mark? Global GDP is projected by Goldman Sachs Research to increase +2.8% in 2026.

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John Blank

"Real" Consequences from the COVID Money Flood

A unique and massive U.S. coordination of monetary policy and fiscal policy, and a technical regulatory change, led to a huge surge in deposits held by households, banks and businesses.

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