This was a spooky week for financial markets, with a range of AI-related tech stocks getting routed, and an even spookier week for crypto markets, with hackers stealing $6.3 billion from Binance accounts.
This week’s economic data releases were altogether less spooky and largely confirmed what we already know: the economy is growing quickly, but so are prices.
Monday
Oil Stuff
Gas prices fell to the lowest level since early September but, at $4.41/gallon, are still really high. The good news is that, if conditions stay the same (big if), gas prices will continue to decline over the next few weeks.
Diesel prices, on the other hand, increased for the week. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday night that Ukraine was pausing strikes on Russian oil refineries. That would have been good news for diesel prices, but the pause didn’t even make it 24 hours, with Ukraine resuming strikes on Friday morning.
Tuesday
New Home Sales
New home sales (i.e., newly built) inched just slightly lower but have been remarkably stable over the past three years. Bigger picture, new homes are selling at almost the exact same pace as they were prior to the pandemic.
Which is to say, new homes are selling a lot better than existing homes are, and that’s in no small part due to builder incentives.
Durable Goods Orders
New orders of durable goods (things that typically last at least three years) increased pretty quickly in September and are up 8.0% year-over-year through the first nine months of 2026. Growth is pretty widespread, though computer and communication equipment orders have risen at a particularly fast pace.
Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index
This measure of consumer sentiment improved in October, almost certainly due to relatively lower gas prices. The most interesting part of this release continues to be the breakdown by generation: Gen Z and Millennials have the most optimism about the outlook, while older generations feel significantly worse.
S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index
Home prices inched lower in August but are still up a modest 2.09% year over year. That’s lower than overall inflation, meaning that home prices are falling in real terms.
