The Bottom Line · September 17, 2026

Est. 2026

Read the economy the way it actually moves.

Weekly blogs on markets, monetary policy, and the fiscal decisions that shape your financial life, written without the jargon.

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By Ayaan Jindal  ·  Mondays  ·  0 blogs · 0 topics

The Latest

August 31, 2026

Nvidia Just Proved the AI Boom Isn't Slowing Down
Issue No. 19
Markets

August 31, 2026

Nvidia Just Proved the AI Boom Isn't Slowing Down

Nvidia reported earnings on August 26, and investors had been quietly worried the AI spending boom was starting to cool. The numbers said otherwise. The stock jumped 8.7% the next day, adding $442 billion in value, the second-largest single-day gain by any stock in history.

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Alibaba's $56 Billion AI Bet Is Getting Expensive
MarketsAugust 24, 2026

Alibaba's $56 Billion AI Bet Is Getting Expensive

Alibaba reported earnings on August 20, and the headline number was brutal: quarterly net profit fell 75%. The company chose to spend so aggressively on AI infrastructure that its free cash outflow more than doubled. Here is why Alibaba is willing to take that hit.

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The Strait of Hormuz Has Been Shut for Six Months. Here's the Actual Toll.
Global EconomyAugust 17, 2026

The Strait of Hormuz Has Been Shut for Six Months. Here's the Actual Toll.

The Strait of Hormuz has been severely restricted since late February, and this week hopes of loosening it further faded again after new attacks and a fresh list of demands from Iran. Oil is climbing back toward $90 a barrel. Here's what six months of disruption has actually cost.

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The Job Market Just Went Backwards
MacroeconomicsAugust 10, 2026

The Job Market Just Went Backwards

The July jobs report came out on August 7, and it was bad. The economy actually lost 23,000 jobs when everyone expected it to add around 85,000. The unemployment rate went down, but that's not really good news either. Here's what happened.

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The Fed Didn't Change Rates. It Changed Expectations.
Monetary PolicyAugust 3, 2026

The Fed Didn't Change Rates. It Changed Expectations.

The Federal Reserve held rates steady on July 29, but three officials broke ranks to demand a hike, the first three-way hawkish dissent in nearly a decade. Then Chair Kevin Warsh gave a press conference so confusing that Wall Street's own economists couldn't agree on whether it was hawkish or dovish. What the Fed actually spent that day wasn't a rate cut or a hike. It was some of its own credibility.

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These blogs exist because most economic commentary is either too technical to be useful or too vague to be honest.

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Guiding Principle

“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”

— Milton Friedman

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