As new parents, my wife and I have been experiencing the ongoing formula shortage firsthand as we prepare for our little one to start daycare in June. The search for formula reminds me of the early days of the pandemic when life turned into a competitive “treasure hunt” due to supply constraints and a drastic change in consumer demand.
Off to the Races
Stocks picked up where they left off in 2017, rising across market caps and geographies for each of the first four trading days of the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eclipsed the 25,000 mark this week and it took just 23 trading days to gain its latest 1,000 points—the fastest such gain in index history.
Show Me the Money
The Friday job report was slightly on the light side with December payrolls coming in at 156,000, 19,000 below economist’s estimates. Positively, the previous two months showed 19,000 in upward revisions. However, wages grew at their highest rate since June 2009, coming in at 2.9 percent year-over-year growth.