Nvidia's record-breaking stock buyback

Nvidia announced a record-breaking stock buyback program on a day when most technology stocks fell, and the bond market continued to signal that the cost of future economic activity is rising. The episode also covered what economists are watching in this week’s labor market data, the shrinking volunteer firefighter workforce, a personal story of unexpected early retirement, the return of the American shopping mall, and the pressures retailers face heading into the holiday season. It is a wide-ranging update, but the dominant threads are rising costs — for the government, for companies, and for consumers — and a labor market that is solid in the headline numbers but showing real weakness underneath.

Bond yields keep rising, and the economy keeps getting more expensive

The bond market is telling a consistent story, one that has been reinforced over the past several weeks. Yields on government notes, bonds, and bills were up again on Monday, in some cases reaching 19-year highs. The 10-year Treasury note yield closed at 5.23 percent. The reasoning behind the rise: business activity remains strong, government debt is high, and the geopolitical picture is unclear. The practical implication, as host Kai Rizdahl put it, is that "the economy yet to come is going to be more expensive." This is the backdrop against which all the other developments in the episode play out.