Real Economy Index

Physical-velocity read — supply, demand, credit, liquidity
+14
Slow growth
-100 crash0+100 boom
Industrial
+8
Build & move
Consumer
-2
Real demand
Credit
+23
Can they afford it?
Liquidity
+42
Is the spigot open?

Component detail

MetricBucketScoreAs of
Real retail & food-service salesconsumer+172026-06-01
Real personal consumptionconsumer-212026-06-01
Credit-card delinquency ratecredit+202026-01-01
Auto/consumer loan delinquencycredit+252026-01-01
Banks tightening C&I standardscredit+252026-07-01
Rail freight carloadsindustrial+112026-05-01
Industrial productionindustrial+42026-06-01
Truck tonnage indexindustrial+92026-05-01
Real M2 money supplyliquidity+332026-06-01
Fed balance sheet (total assets)liquidity+822026-07-29
Overnight reverse repo (drain)liquidity+102026-08-04

How to read it

Each metric is scored by magnitude (z-score vs its own trailing trend, clipped to ±2), not a binary up/down. Rates (delinquencies) are scored on their year-over-year change; trending levels (rail, M2) on year-over-year growth. Buckets weight Industrial 30 / Consumer 30 / Credit 25 / Liquidity 15, renormalized over whatever metrics reported. v1 is FRED-sourced (11/19 metrics); company-filing bellwethers (Fastenal, Caterpillar, Walmart, Amazon, Capital One…) layer in next. Generated 2026-08-05. Not investment advice.