A Look Into Finance Industry Trends

2025 has been anything but quiet for the financial industry and the financial indicators we track. The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Volatility Index – commonly referred to as the VIX – averaged 24.7 in April, briefly breaching the 50 threshold that has only been surpassed by 2008 and 2020.

Meanwhile, interest rates have shown significant differences in terms of stickiness depending on the market (housing, automotive, or general) and duration (short term, medium term, or longer term).

What forces are impacting the stock market and interest rates right now? How are consumers and businesses managing through all the turmoil, and what does that mean for the likely trajectory of the US economy going forward?

Join Economic Consulting Managing Director Eric Post as he delves into these issues and more – such as M&A activity – in the May 2025 Insider Webinar. Eric will apply ITR Economics’ apolitical, data-dependent approach to analyzing these issues. You will learn which indicators to truly pay attention to.

In addition, we will detail the metrics that dominate the news cycle and which of those have minimal impact on the health of financial markets and the direction of the economy.

For example, how many times have you seen a headline about how consumer debt at a record high? Consumer debt is nearly always rising alongside other nominal measures of the economy, such as GDP and Retail Sales. How much it matters economically cannot be determined simply by examining whether debt is rising. What matters more is consumers’ ability to handle debt payments. Right now, we are seeing considerable differences in that ability depending on market. For example, Eric will explain how the US housing market and debt load are on solid footing, in contrast to the weaker state of the automotive market.

This webinar recording is an Insider member exclusive! Learn more and sign up today to receive this complimentary recording later this month.