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The Daily Spark

Stay ahead of the markets with The Daily Spark at Apollo. Get exclusive, daily data-driven analysis on the US economy, inflation, and capital markets from Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok.
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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 16, 2026

Continued Rise in Business Formation

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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Breaking down business applications into value and growth companies reveals a widening divergence, likely driven by the proliferation of AI-enabled startups, as large language models dramatically lower the barriers to entrepreneurship. For more, see also here.

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Financial Markets & Risk Dynamics

April 15, 2026

AI Is Reshaping Credit Market Composition

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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Tech’s share of the investment-grade index has risen from 1.9% in 2006 to 10.7% today, with similar gains in high-yield and leveraged loans, see chart below.

The bottom line is that AI-related sectors now represent a growing share of credit markets.

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Global & Geopolitical Developments

April 14, 2026

Middle East Conflict: Impact on Credit Markets

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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The chart below assesses the severity of the Middle East conflict's impact across various segments of credit markets.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 13, 2026

Diamond Prices at Record-Low Levels

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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The price of natural diamonds has fallen more than 50% since 2022, and is now at its lowest level on record, see chart below.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 12, 2026

The AI Revolution Continues

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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We are in the midst of an AI revolution, and the CFO Survey below shows the many channels through which business managers expect AI to have an impact on firm outcomes.

CFOs expect the biggest impacts to be on decision speed, output per worker and time spent on high value–added tasks, with employment essentially unchanged.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 11, 2026

Tech Valuations Back to Pre-AI Boom Levels

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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The chart below compares the forward P/E ratios for the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 Information Technology sector.

Tech valuations have compressed from 40x to 20x, and we are back at levels last seen before the AI boom began.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 10, 2026

Almost Half of American Households Have No Retirement Savings

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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Nearly half of working-age Americans don’t have a retirement account, with the shortfall most acute among younger, less-educated and lower-income workers, see chart below and here.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 09, 2026

Ground Beef Prices Rising

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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Ground beef prices are rising, see chart below. The US cattle herd remains historically tight because of years of drought and high feed costs, and this has kept slaughter availability constrained and pushed live cattle costs higher. Resilient consumer demand and elevated feed, labor and energy costs are reinforcing the move at retail.

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Macroeconomic Indicators & Trends

April 08, 2026

Higher Tax Refunds Positive for Consumer Spending

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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We are in the middle of tax filing season, and the latest weekly data from the Treasury shows that refunds for households are currently running at a rate that is 14% higher than last year, see chart below.

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Financial Markets & Risk Dynamics

April 07, 2026

US Insurers Have Very Small Exposure to Levered Lending

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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The chart below shows exposure to below investment grade bank loans across a representative sample of US insurers.

The average is 1%.

The bottom line is that sub-investment grade levered lending is a very small part of the balance sheet for the US insurance industry.

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