DC Lite #444

"There are two economies in the U.S. right now, and they are moving in different directions"

Daily Chartbook
September 17, 2025

In partnership with

Welcome back to DC Lite: Daily Chartbook’s free, entry-level newsletter containing 5 of the day’s best charts & insights.

Follow Daily Chartbook on Twitter and LinkedIn for more charts.

1. New construction. "Building permits have contracted for 5 straight months ... that's the longest streak since the end of 2008 into the beginning of 2009."

@kevrgordon

2. Wage growth divergence. "There are two economies in the U.S. right now, and they are moving in different directions ... In August, annual wage and salary growth fell to 0.9% for the bottom third, the smallest gain since 2016 ... The top third saw growth of 3.6% year over year, the most since November 2021."

Bofa via Jeanne Whalen - WSJ

3. FOMC. "Here are the Fed's SEP projections: higher growth, lower unemployment rate, higher inflation & more cuts. Real GDP: revised up across the board. Unemployment rate: unchanged in 2025, lower for 2026-27. Inflation: Higher in 2026, unchanged in other years. Policy rate rate: 75 bps in 2025."

@augurinfinity

_{Sponsored content:}

What Every Investor Reads Before the Bell

Every morning, Elitetrade.club delivers fast, smart, no-fluff market insights straight to your inbox. Join thousands of investors who don’t miss a beat.

Click Here to Join Now

4. Retail activity. Citadel retail clients have remained been buyers in 19 of the last 22 weeks and structural buyers for 20 straight months. Seasonal demand trends suggests buying will accelerate through November.

Scott Rubner - Citadel

5. Volatility risk premiums. "Volatility risk premiums remain elevated across equities & commodities. SPX, QQQ, GLD, and XLE all rank >80%, showing a clear tilt toward option selling bias. On the low side, XLU & XHB under 30%, hinting at selective buying opportunities."

MenthorQ (get 25% off)

_{Sponsored content:}

Go from AI overwhelmed to AI savvy professional

AI keeps coming up at work, but you still don't get it?

That's exactly why 1M+ professionals working at Google, Meta, and OpenAI read Superhuman AI daily.

Here's what you get:

Daily AI news that matters for your career - Filtered from 1000s of sources so you know what affects your industry.
Step-by-step tutorials you can use immediately - Real prompts and workflows that solve actual business problems.
New AI tools tested and reviewed - We try everything to deliver tools that drive real results.
All in just 3 minutes a day

Join 1M+ pros