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Free beginner-friendly lessons on how the markets work — no purchase or account required.
Consumer confidence data doesn't measure what people actually did with their money, it measures how they feel about their money, and that distinction matters a lot to traders.
In consumer-driven economies like the United States, what people buy at the checkout counter each month is one of the clearest windows into economic health available.
The unemployment rate is one of the most quoted economic statistics in the world, but the number the media reports is often not the number that actually moves markets.