Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 008 — Wed Nov 4

The average car payment's a record $787 a month and now the automakers want a monthly fee for remote start and horsepower that's already built into the car — you paid for it, it's in there, they just turned it off. Oil went down then up on mines in the Hormuz lane and I still don't have a pump number newer than $4.29, day four; Ohio's got 125 local data-center bans and 21 more ballot measures, and the power line to that building lands on the hooked-up part of your electric bill; 3M's paying $7.4 billion to up to 120,000 people, about $61,700 each on Kev's napkin, before the lawyers. Gordon in Erie asked if moving his 401(k) safer at 58 is panic, and Denise in Toledo asked why her car insurance went up forty bucks when nothing changed.

Dave Scale: Car subscriptions 8 · Oil/gas 6 · Data centers 5 · 3M 2

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 007 — Tue Nov 3

Saudi Aramco said out loud its profit surged on "higher prices of refined products" — that's the gap — the same week a different Carl, Carl Icahn, is paying over four billion for two of Marathon's refineries, and I still don't have a gas number newer than $4.29. Apple beat Wall Street by a billion, a hundred fourteen and a half against a hundred thirteen and a half, partly by charging you more for the phone, the stock fell anyway and the Nasdaq's in its third correction this year; a survey says you need two point six million to retire, which is a number designed to make you quit looking; and LNG supply's headed for its biggest drop on record while Kev finds out what heats his apartment. Donna in Chillicothe asked why her electric bill went up when she's using less.

Dave Scale: Aramco/Icahn 7 · Apple 3 · Retirement 4 · LNG 5

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 006 — Mon Nov 2

It's open enrollment week and an economist says health insurance ate your raise — if your job's premiums had grown three percent a year like they used to, pay would be growing point-two to point-three points faster, which on fifty grand is a hundred to a hundred-fifty bucks a year, stacking, and your share went up anyway. Oil dropped on the talks but I promised a real gas number today and don't have one, so it's still Monday's $4.29 and that's on me; Ryanair says European fares could go up to twenty percent on a $2.2 billion fuel bill and "lower crewing ratios" means fewer flight attendants; eight of the ten cars Gen Z drives are sedans Detroit quit building; and there's no Friday close on the sheet, so open the 401(k) yourself and don't touch it. Bill in Terre Haute asked why gas goes up fast and down slow, and Hector in Decatur asked what an HSA is.

Dave Scale: Health insurance 7 · Oil/gas 6 · Ryanair 3 · Sedans 2 · Tech stocks 2 (holds)

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 005 — Fri Oct 30

Exxon, Chevron and BP all had "blowout" quarters the day after Shell did, nobody handed me a dollar figure so I didn't say one, and the gap between the oil and your pump is still a record while gas sits at Monday's $4.29. GDP grew 3.4% but housing fell 3.3%, your spending stalled in September, and the computer-buying that carried the number had a rough Friday — Nasdaq down 600-plus, Intel a $140 billion wipeout as of this morning; candy's up 44% since 2021 so do the price-per-ounce, and a couple paid $500 a month for Uber when Medicare had $3 rides. Jargon Jail sentenced "refining margin" to life, it's "the gap" from here on, and Carl's still 0-for-2026 on his three cuts.

Dave Scale: Exxon/Chevron 7 · GDP 6 · Candy 3 · Medicare rides 5 · Nasdaq 2

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 004 — Thu Oct 29

Shell nearly doubled its profit on a record refining margin — that's the gap between the oil and your pump — and put five billion of it into buying its own stock while oil's still over a hundred bucks, so the six weeks keeps running. The Fed held, your sticky-note card APR isn't moving this round, Carl's still 0-for-2026 on his three cuts, DoorDash is reportedly buying Instacart for seventeen billion so there's one fewer app to compare, and Spirit Halloween said the tariffs would kill 'em and then had their best year ever. Pete in Fort Wayne asked about the extended warranty on a used truck.

Dave Scale: Shell 7 · Fed hold 5 (re-rated from 6) · DoorDash/Instacart 4 · Spirit Halloween 2

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 003 — Wed Oct 28

It's Fed day, the decision's not in, and "everybody expects a hold" — same everybody that gave Carl three cuts in January, so I'll tell you tomorrow what they actually did; mortgages are 7.1% and people are reaching for riskier loans to get under it. Walmart's Thanksgiving basket is thirty-five bucks for twenty-six items and I've moved that turkey — they lose money on it on purpose, everything next to it is full price. Wendy's is down seventy percent while Chili's owner made a hundred thirteen million, the country's paying the minimum on the card at two hundred billion a month in interest by 2036, a three-year cruise ran out of fuel money, and Marcus in Dayton asked about his emergency fund.

Dave Scale: Fed day 6 (holds till tomorrow) · Walmart basket 3 · Wendy's 2 · Debt interest 5 · Cruise 0

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 002 — Tue Oct 27

Microsoft's handing sixty thousand people a "voluntary" packet, and I've been in that room — round two's never voluntary. P&G's selling a cashmere diaper on track for a hundred million a year, Manhattan rent hit a record $3,785 with rents up 7.1% against pay up 4.2%, and Kev checked my diesel math from yesterday — I was off by about four hundred times, which works out to two thousand sixty dollars a gallon. Renee in Akron asked if 8% from her landlord is normal; it isn't.

Dave Scale: Buyouts 6 · Diapers 5 · Diesel 8 · Rent 6

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 001 — Mon Oct 26

Americans are in their second-worst money mood since 1978, gas is $4.29 and a buck-twenty higher than last year, the Fed meets this week with a hike at a coin flip — and Dave doesn't think a hike fixes a gas price caused by a war. Home sellers are finally sweating, Carl is 0-for-2026, Kev went to a chili thing, and The One Thing to do before Wednesday.

Dave Scale: Sentiment 8 · Fed week 6 · Housing 4 · AI stocks 2

Got a question for Dave? Email [email protected] — Kev reads all of them.