Retail Spending, Big Tech Goes Nuclear, & More

Week in Review: Oct. 14-18

This week saw record U.S. oil production, dismal new home construction data, big nuclear announcements from big tech companies, and a lot more.

Monday

TSA Checkpoint Travel Numbers

Travel volumes edged back above 2023 levels during the week ending October 17^th, according to TSA data. This suggests the recent slowdown had a lot to do with hurricanes and airport closures.

Gas Prices & Diesel Prices

Gas prices increased to $3.29/gallon during the second week of October, but that’s still about $0.50 cheaper per gallon than one year ago. Diesel prices jumped up to $3.63/gallon, the highest level since the last week of August.

Tuesday

Big Tech Goes Big on Nuclear

On Monday, Google announced that it’s signing a deal to purchase nuclear energy from a company called Kairos, with about 500 MW of power expected to come online via small modular reactors by 2035.

Amazon followed suit two days later, announcing partnerships with a few companies to explore putting small modular reactors in Virginia and Washington State.

This follows a September announcement from Microsoft that they would resurrect the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Why the barrage of investments in nuclear energy? Because data centers and AI models require a ton of power. This article from The Hill is a good overview on the subject.

Wednesday

Import and Export Prices