Because data lags, the current level is uncertain. Plus, key factors like unemployment and the commercial property market are volatile.

The Fed is slowing the pace of shrinking its bond holdings, aka quantitative tightening, perhaps before easing its interest rate stance.

And why is there no target number to measure it, as there is with inflation —the Federal Reserve’s other mandate?

The Federal Reserve will be looking for signs that the economy is slowing in a manageable way so that it can cut interest rates.

One wild card: back-to-school shopping.

With the Federal Reserve signaling it plans to cut rates up to three times this year, interest payments, and interest charges, are likely to drop.

The latest edition includes comments from community bankers, real estate brokers, farm-implement suppliers—you name it.

Biden has mostly shied away from publicly criticizing the Fed chair, while Trump tweeted about the Fed hundreds of times while in office.

The assumption is that the economy will chug along and that borrowing costs will fall. But they might not. What makes these riskier stocks attractive?

When the central bank makes money, it hands it to the Treasury. But now it’s losing money as it pays interest to banks on their deposits.