Fiscal Policy

Where arithmetic helps, it's worked on the page with hypothetical numbers you can swap for your own. The trading terms define the account mechanics these pages refer to.

Each page names the public source where the next step shows up first, such as auction schedules, bill text or company filings. Reading those sources directly is slower than reading commentary, but it tells you what happened. Commentary tells you what someone expects to happen.

To check what you know afterward, try the economy quiz. The margin interest calculator and the merger spread calculator run two of the sums from this section with your own numbers.

Articles

• Deficits, Treasury Supply and What Stock Traders Watch

  How a federal deficit becomes Treasury auctions, why more supply can push yields up, and how those yields reach stock valuations and borrowing costs.

• Government Contracts and Spending Bills as Stock Catalysts

  How appropriations, contract awards, protests and continuing resolutions move stocks that depend on government revenue, and where the filings show that exposure.

• How a Tax Bill Moves Sector Stocks Before It Becomes Law

  Why sector stocks move on tax drafts and votes before a bill passes, how a rate change reaches after-tax earnings, and which personal tax rules to check.

• The Debt Ceiling and Why It Rattles Markets

  What the US debt ceiling is, what extraordinary measures buy, why short-dated Treasury bills and volatility react as a deadline nears, and what a trader can check.