This month in 1999, the movie The Sixth Sense was released to audiences across the globe. It’s the sort of movie that doesn’t age as well as it should—namely, because its director, M. Night Shyamalan, goes for a trick ending more often than Tony Hawk at a skate park.

For those who somehow haven’t seen The Sixth Sense in the last 24 years, here is the basic premise: Imagine you're a kid who sees dead people, but instead of running away, you decide to keep it to yourself and chat with them like it’s no big deal. Enter Bruce Willis, a therapist who doesn’t know he’s dead. Together, they stumble through a clunky plot—the kid playing Ghostbusters and Willis trying to piece together why his wife won’t talk to him (hint: he’s a ghost).

While the audience is trying to figure things out, they are blindsided by the monster of all plot twists. Turns out, Willis doesn’t know he’s dead and neither did we. Shyamalan has been concealing it from the audience the entire time as well. We’ve just been too busy being spooked by all the crazy whispering to notice. In the end, the movie teaches us a valuable lesson: always check your pulse before you go to work the next day.

The movie did provide a crazy catch phrase that stands the test of time: “I see dead people.” You can still say the phrase at a cocktail party to this day and get a few laughs.

This month’s economic indicators are like that—exciting, dramatic, full of intensity, but with a plot twist that hits you like a gut punch and leaves you never wanting a sequel. First, let’s get it out of the way. This economy is roaring ahead in general. You know the drill by now. Wages? Growing.  Consumer Spending? Solid. Jobs—especially in health care? Steady. Unemployment? Low. Inflation? Down.

But as we have been saying month after month, the ghost of high interest rates will eventually get you haunted. And, my friends, the plot twist, the metaphorical witching hour, is upon us. A weak July jobs report got everyone scared and suddenly, the Fed might be in the mood for a deep rate cut at their next meeting in September.

Our response? It's about time. We’ve been advocating for this for at least a quarter and a half. That’s because we’ve been seeing vacancy rates rise and capital expenditures slow for a while now.

The Fed? I guess they needed more data. Us? We see Fed People. Let’s hope it’s not too late to prevent more layoffs we’re seeing already across the US. 

Stay safe and God-speed.

Tom