Don’t have time to watch the whole video? Here’s 5 Key Takeaways:

🔹Voters Are Souring On AI & Data Centers: According to polls, over the last six months voters have become increasingly negative on both artificial intelligence and the building of new data centers. This shift has occurred across the political spectrum, as both Trump voters and Harris voters feel similarly.

🔹Politicians Are Responding To This Sentiment: Multiple States have already passed legislation relating to this topic. New York opted for a one-year moratorium on the building of new data centers, while states like Texas and California have passed less drastic measures to curb the impact of these sites.

🔹Data Centers Do Create Some Local Jobs: According to the Brookings Institution, data centers do create meaningful increases to local jobs, with caveats. Data centers from hyperscalers create jobs while data center “landlords” do not, and most of the gains occur in places with multiple data centers, single facilities produce only very modest gain.

🔹Capex Typically Leads To Productivity Rises: There is a long standing relationship between U.S. investment spending and U.S. productivity. This relationship appears to still be in tact, as we have seen an uptick in productivity stemming from the massive increase in capex spending seen over the last year.

🔹Productivity Does Not Always Lead To Growth: The relationship between productivity and economic growth in less firm. From 1966 to 2019, there has been basically zero relationship between the two. In fact, in more recent years there is some evidence that productivity gains end of hurting economic growth.

Miss our last few videos? No worries. Here are some of the most popular 👇

1) Interest Rates Are The Key To Economic Forecasting
2) Cracks Are Forming In The AI Trade
3) Forecasting Earnings Using The Business Cycle

The Macro Specialist Designation

The Macro Specialist Designation (M²SD) program is the only Macro Investing professional designation.

Over the course of two levels of study, candidates learn how macro trends impact financial markets and how to successfully implement macro strategy and asset selection techniques into their investment process.

Fast Facts:
1) The M²SD was designed by macro legend Francois Trahan.
2) Candidates have completed the M²SD in as little as 6 months.
3) CFA Charterholders can skip Level 1 of the M²SD.
4) Candidates receive all materials needed to pass exams.
5) Each Level costs $2,500 and is offered four times a year.
6) The minimum passing score for each exam is a 70%.

Macro Data Center

The Macro Week Ahead

📆 Last Week’s Data Key Takeaways

🔹 S&P PMI Beat Expectations With A Pricing Twist: The July composite came in at 53.6, well above the forecast of 52.2 and meaningfully higher than June's reading of 51.9, marking the strongest composite reading in eight months. Services led the charge, with the Services Business Activity Index hitting 53.6 in July, up sharply from 51.2 in June. The Manufacturing PMI held steady at 53.8, barely changed from June's 53.9.

🔹 New Home Sales Snapped A Two-Month Skid: New single-family home sales rose 1.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 628,000 units last month, beating the 610K consensus. May was revised up to 618K from the initially reported 580K. Builders bought the volume with price concessions: the median price for a new home fell for a second straight month to its lowest level in almost a year, coming in at $398,300.

🔹Bond Market Pricing In A September Hike: The Fed will hold a policy meeting this week, and while rate futures markets reflect only about a one-in-three chance of a hike at that meeting, the probability rises to nearly 100% at the following meeting in September.

🔹 Leading Economic Index Slipped Modestly: The Conference Board's LEI declined by 0.2% in June 2026 to 99.1, following a 0.1% increase in May. However, the LEI is down by only 0.3% over the first half of 2026, a much smaller rate of decline than its 1.1% contraction over the second half of 2025.

🔹 Regional Fed Signals Diverged As KC Fed Cooled: The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to -0.02 in June from -0.19 in May. Still slightly below trend, but marking a meaningful acceleration. Kansas City Fed went the other way: the composite index came in at 9 this month, down slightly from 11 in June, but still indicating continued expansion.

Macro Job Board

 Macro Research & Content Associate @ FT Partners (SF)

This role sits at the intersection of market research, data analysis, content creation, and AI-powered workflow automation. You'll conduct original research, identify emerging market trends, produce professional research reports, create compelling marketing content, and leverage the latest AI tools to dramatically increase productivity and quality.

Macro Analyst @ IMC Trading (Chicago)

This role will partner closely with Traders to identify trading opportunities in the markets for US index futures and options. More than reporting what you see, you will translate macro context into actionable trade ideas - framing your views in probabilistic terms and with conviction, so that Traders can convert them into positions.

VP of Macro Assets @ JP Morgan (New York)

This role will primarily drive the expansion of our Macro and Cross Asset positioning product, expanding datasets, standardizing methodologies, and building client-facing outputs across rates, commodities, equities, credit, and FX. You will publish high-impact research and engage directly with institutional clients.

What We Read This Weekend

🏦 Odds Of A September Fed Rate Hike Surged To 82%

💰 The Rise Of The Deserving Rich

🏠 Unpacking The ROAD To Housing Act