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Markets

The board.

A delayed snapshot of the market, and a plain-English guide to the economic reports that move it. It's for orientation, not decisions: no analysis, no calls, and nothing on this page is a reason to buy or sell anything.

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    Today’s movers

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    The stocks moving most — biggest gainers, biggest losers, and the most heavily traded — as a delayed, ranked snapshot. It’s here for orientation, not decisions: a stock isn’t good because it’s up or bad because it’s down, and nothing on this list is a reason to buy or sell anything. Tap any ticker for its delayed quote.

    Gainers

    Losers

    Most active

    The economic calendar

    The reports that reliably move markets — jobs, inflation, growth, and what the Fed does about them. These recur on a regular rhythm, so this is a guide to what to watch and when it comes around, not a dated schedule: exact dates shift month to month, so we describe the cadence instead. It’s here to make the headlines make sense — for orientation, not decisions.

    1. Fed interest-rate decision (FOMC)

      Eight times a year, about every six weeks · 2:00 p.m. ET, then a press conference

      The Fed sets the short-term interest rate that ripples into almost everything — loan and mortgage rates, savings yields, and how investors value stocks and bonds. The statement and the chair’s press conference get parsed word by word for hints about where rates go next.

      Source · Federal Reserve

    2. Jobs report (Nonfarm Payrolls)

      Monthly · usually the first Friday, 8:30 a.m. ET

      The most-watched read on the economy’s health: how many jobs the U.S. added or lost last month, plus the unemployment rate and wage growth. A much hotter or colder number than expected can move markets in seconds, because it shapes what the Fed does next.

      Source · Bureau of Labor Statistics

    3. Inflation report (CPI)

      Monthly · around mid-month, 8:30 a.m. ET

      The headline inflation gauge — how fast prices are rising across a basket of everyday goods and services. Cooling inflation gives the Fed room to lower rates; stubborn inflation keeps them high, so this print reliably jolts markets.

      Source · Bureau of Labor Statistics

    4. PCE price index

      Monthly · toward month-end, 8:30 a.m. ET

      The Fed’s preferred inflation measure — it watches this one even more closely than CPI. It arrives inside the monthly personal income and spending report, so it also shows whether households are still spending.

      Source · Bureau of Economic Analysis

    5. Wholesale inflation (PPI)

      Monthly · around mid-month, 8:30 a.m. ET

      Inflation measured one step up the chain — what producers charge before goods reach the shelf. It often points to where consumer prices head next, so it works as an early inflation tell.

      Source · Bureau of Labor Statistics

    6. Retail sales

      Monthly · around mid-month, 8:30 a.m. ET

      Consumer spending drives roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy, and this is the timeliest read on it — whether shoppers are opening their wallets or pulling back.

      Source · U.S. Census Bureau

    7. Economic growth (GDP)

      Quarterly · released in three monthly estimates, 8:30 a.m. ET

      The broadest scorecard of output — the total value of everything the country produced. Growth or contraction here defines whether the economy is expanding or sliding toward a downturn.

      Source · Bureau of Economic Analysis

    8. Initial jobless claims

      Weekly · Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. ET

      The most frequent labor-market signal: how many people filed for unemployment last week. Because it lands weekly, it’s the fastest way to spot the job market cooling or heating up between the big monthly reports.

      Source · U.S. Department of Labor

    9. ISM manufacturing & services (PMI)

      Monthly · first few business days, 10:00 a.m. ET

      Survey gauges of activity across factories and service businesses. A reading above 50 signals expansion and below 50 contraction — a quick pulse-check on whether the economy is speeding up or slowing down.

      Source · Institute for Supply Management

    10. Consumer confidence & sentiment

      Monthly · Conference Board late-month; University of Michigan mid- and end-of-month

      How optimistic households feel about jobs, income, and the road ahead — a leading hint at whether spending will hold up, plus a closely watched read on where people expect inflation to go.

      Source · Conference Board · University of Michigan

    11. Housing data (starts & existing-home sales)

      Monthly · mid-month, 8:30–10:00 a.m. ET

      Housing is highly sensitive to interest rates and a big slice of the economy. Starts and sales show how higher or lower mortgage rates are feeding through to builders and buyers.

      Source · U.S. Census Bureau · National Association of Realtors

    12. Fed meeting minutes (FOMC minutes)

      Three weeks after each Fed meeting · 2:00 p.m. ET

      The detailed record of the Fed’s last rate meeting — the debate behind the decision. Traders comb it for clues about how close the next cut or hike really is.

      Source · Federal Reserve

    Release names, cadences, and times are the usual U.S. schedule and can change; check the issuing agency for the exact date and figures. This is general educational information about what these reports are and why markets react — not a forecast, a signal, or advice.

    What am I looking at?

    Index futures — ES and NQ

    ES and NQ are futures contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 — standardized contracts that trade nearly around the clock, five-plus days a week. Because they move while the stock market sleeps, they're the first read on how a session is shaping up. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rows beneath them are the cash indexes themselves — the benchmarks people mean when they say "the market."

    The VIX

    The VIX gauges how much movement options traders are pricing into the S&P 500 over the next 30 days — Wall Street's so-called "fear gauge." It measures expected volatility, not direction: a market can climb or fall through a high VIX. It jumps when investors get nervous and drifts down when things feel calm.

    The 10-year

    The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, quoted in percent — what lending the US government money for a decade currently pays. It's the reference rate that mortgages, corporate borrowing, and stock valuations all key off, which is why a move of a few hundredths of a point draws so much attention.

    Bitcoin

    Bitcoin priced in US dollars. Unlike everything above it, it trades around the clock on venues worldwide, with no official open or close — the one number on this board that's always moving. It's here as a fact of the landscape, not a comment on it.

    Every number here is a delayed quote from public data, republished as-is — no adjustments, no commentary. Interest rates come from the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve (via FRED); bitcoin from Coinbase. If a quote lags or briefly goes missing, that's the feed, not a message.

    Off Script Wire is an independent publication. Everything we publish is general information about business and markets, not individualized advice. Read the full disclosures.

    Numbers are the easy part. The brief makes them make sense.