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