Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 013 — Thu Nov 12

Nvidia's board met last night on whether to fire the guy who started it — all reported, all alleged — the stock's down about eight percent and $450 billion is gone since he admitted the affair, and the part TV skips is a reported $7.5 billion in chips routed through Singapore and Malaysia to Chinese companies; if your 401(k)'s an index fund, open it, don't touch it. Importers are one step closer to $166 billion in tariff refunds and there's no line in it for you — you paid it at the register, the refund goes to the dock; the bond market came back and rates went up, the dollar's at a nineteen-month high, and I've now owed you a CPI number three days. Oil's down on a fading "risk premium" with no pump number, somebody paid for priority boarding and got a full bin, Kelly in Mansfield asked about ditching a $12-a-month bank fee, and Eddie in Lafayette asked if 690 is a good credit score.

Dave Scale: Nvidia 2 · Tariff refunds 4 · Fed/bonds 6 (holds) · Oil 5 (holds) · Priority boarding 2

Got a question for Dave? Email dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 012 — Wed Nov 11

Inflation came in "hotter than expected," the whole bond market sold off over it, everybody's betting the Fed hikes — and I promised you the number and nobody put one on my sheet, so I don't have it. Oil's back over $92 with diesel tankers stalled out on the water, Children's Place is filing bankruptcy with $881 million in debt and blaming babies, and SoftBank lost $7 billion reserving six Hoover Dams' worth of gas turbines for data centers that didn't show up. Gina in Evansville asked what "the market is down" means if you don't own stocks, and Melissa in Mishawaka asked about a skip-a-payment offer on her car.

Dave Scale: Fed/CPI 6 (holds) · Oil/diesel boats 5 (holds) · Children's Place 3 · SoftBank 2

Got a question for Dave? Email dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 011 — Tue Nov 10

Gas is under four bucks for the first time since July — CBS says — at least twenty-nine cents off the $4.29 I've been stuck on for two weeks, oil's at ninety, and some expert already knows it'll be $3.75 by Thanksgiving; how would he know that. Same morning a Fed governor says he's "leaning toward" a December hike, maybe half a point, and they can't hike a war, so they hike you; Nvidia lost about $200 billion in a day with no chairman and no named backup for the guy who co-founded it in '93, PepsiCo's "streamlining" a thousand people, and Florida's homestead break is the same chunk for the three-bedroom and the yacht. Omar in Cleveland asked why the inflation rate doesn't match his receipt, and Lisa in Kokomo asked card or car — still the card.

Dave Scale: Gas 5 (re-rated from 6) · Fed 6 · Nvidia 2 · PepsiCo 4 · Florida 2

Got a question for Dave? Email dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 010 — Mon Nov 9

Nearly one in five of the workers companies replaced with AI are getting called back, and they're asking for more — take the job, and don't take the first number. Missiles hit Saudi Arabia and oil stayed under a hundred bucks anyway, but I still don't have a pump number newer than $4.29 and that's two weeks today; Nvidia's down five percent while its board investigates its own CEO, and if you've got an index fund you own a piece of that; China's factory prices came in at 5.7% against the 5.3% the experts called, which is Christmas-shelf money already on the boat, and Carl's still 0-for-2026. Tommy in Parkersburg asked if diesel really hits his groceries, and Luis in Lorain asked if a four percent raise is a raise.

Dave Scale: AI call-backs 3 · Oil/gas 6 (holds) · Nvidia 2 · China factory prices 5

Got a question for Dave? Email dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.

Dave Explains the Economy in Plain English — Ep. 009 — Thu Nov 5

Oil fell more than eight percent in one day and it's back under a hundred bucks, the Dow had its best day in eighteen months, and I still don't have a pump number newer than $4.29 — day five — so now it's on you: Bill's rule says up fast, down slow, and this is the down-slow part. Nintendo raised the price on the Switch 2, sales dropped 41%, and profit went up 11% to about $1.39 billion anyway; Europe's biggest steelmaker said out loud that tariffs boosted its earnings 34%, which answers Lorraine in Ashtabula's question about whether "tariff" is real or the new excuse; and JetBlue raised bag fees for the second time this year on the same day oil dropped. Russ in Kalamazoo asked if a hike moves his savings rate or just his card.

Dave Scale: Oil/gas 6 · Switch 2 5 · Steel tariffs 5 · JetBlue 3

Got a question for Dave? Email dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.

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 dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — 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 dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — 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 dave@daveexplainspodcast.com — Kev reads all of them.