The Daily Shot Brief – August 4, 2026

The Daily Shot Brief — Relaunched

After a year’s hiatus, The Daily Shot Brief is back, featuring exactly the same content: a curated set of charts and data covering global macro, markets, and the economy — free to subscribers. We’ve also made the move to Substack, so you can engage with the newsletter in the Substack app.

A note: this is a separate publication from the full Daily Shot. If you’re not already a subscriber there, you can find it here.

Let’s get to it.

United States

The ISM manufacturing PMI hit the strongest level since 2022.

Japan

However, Japan’s net interest expense relative to total revenue is very low.

Source: @DougPeta, BCA Research, “The Bank Credit Analyst” (August 2026)

India

India added roughly five million graduates to the workforce each year between 2004 and 2023 but created only about 2.8 million graduate jobs.

Source: The Economist Read full article

Emerging Markets

Oxford Economics’ GDP nowcasts suggest emerging-market growth remained resilient in Q2, led by emerging Asia (excluding China) and Central and Eastern Europe, while Latin America’s momentum moderated.

Source: Oxford Economics, “Resilience positions EMs for new tests” (August 2026)

Equities

Global earnings have been strong and revisions have continued to rise.

Source: Goldman Sachs, “Momentum, rotation and the value in growth” (August 2026)

Rates

Demand for TLT puts surged (i.e., investors positioning for yields to rise further), pushing TLT skew to a post-Global Financial Crisis high.

Source: Cboe Read full article

Commodities

Central bank gold purchases have eased.

Source: @financialtimes Read full article