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Kai Explains

What’s the best way to measure corporate performance?

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 18, 2022
“There isn’t one,” said Patrick Badolato, a professor of accounting. But investors and analysts use “net income” and “EBITDA” in their attempts.
Obscure financial metrics "seem to tell a nice and neat and tidy story, and the reality is messy and nuanced,” said Patrick Badolato, an associate professor of accounting at the University of Texas.
George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

To understand the Fed’s bond-buying dilemma, picture a lake

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jul 13, 2021
A Columbia Business School professor explains quantitative easing and the Feds' $120 billion per month bond-buying program with an analogy.
If water on a lake is too low, boats can't go from one side to the other smoothly. "The Fed is basically adding some water in that lake to keep the liquidity — or to keep the water — from completely drying out,” says Yiming Ma of Columbia Business School.
Ethan Miller via Getty Images
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Kai Explains

What if jobless benefit boosts didn't need congressional approval?

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Feb 22, 2021
Throughout the pandemic, federal unemployment benefits have had expiration dates. Some economists think there's a better way.
President Joe Biden discussing his administration's proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief legislation.
Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

What's behind the national debt?

by Andie Corban and Kai Ryssdal
Jun 17, 2020
We look into how the government borrows money and what it means in the long run.
Then-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in 2016. The national debt has since passed $26 trillion.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

Why annualizing can make GDP forecasts look scarier than they are

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jun 11, 2020
If one quarter differs significantly from another, it's hard to paint a picture of the entire year.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

When and why it’s worth taking a look at equity index futures

by Maria Hollenhorst and Kai Ryssdal
Mar 4, 2020
They can indicate where the market is going to open, but they're not a crystal ball.
"I see an apple in a grocery store ..."
Fox Photos/Getty Images
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Why sometimes big news does not move the stock market

by Maria Hollenhorst and Kai Ryssdal
Jan 7, 2020
Was it a predictable event? Then Wall Street's reaction might already be "priced in."
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

Should we be paying closer attention to weekly unemployment claims?

by Andie Corban and Kai Ryssdal
Dec 4, 2019
"It's really a measure, I think, of worker confidence in the economy," said Tara Sinclair of George Washington University.
Some states require unemployment insurance claims be filed in person.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

What is a cryptocurrency, anyway?

by Maria Hollenhorst and Kai Ryssdal
Nov 25, 2019
Sorting blockchain from bitcoin and everything else.
A photo illustration of the litecoin, ripple and ethereum cryptocurrencies.
Jack Taylor/Getty Images
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Kai Explains

Where do earnings expectations come from?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Oct 29, 2019
Analysts estimate how a company will perform.
A trader works during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange,
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
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