Small firms cross their fingers for a rate cut

Marketplace

American Public Media

Business, News

4.6 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Russell 2000, a stock index of smaller companies or “small caps,” has fallen behind the S&P 500 over the past few years. A Fed rate cut, which may come as soon as next week, could change their luck. In this episode, why interest rates have an outsize effect on smaller companies. Plus: Homebuilding is harder under President Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies, brands lean into the power of scent, and we recap the week’s economic headlines.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We've got the past five days in this economy.
0:04.1	That's where we'll start, of course, because it's Friday.
0:07.2	We'll talk small cap companies, and then we're going to talk smell.
0:12.6	From American public media.
0:15.2	This is Marketplace. place.
0:28.7	In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizzdall.
0:29.8	It is Friday.
0:31.9	Today, this one is the 12th of September.
0:33.9	Good as always to have you along, everybody.
0:40.6	There has, of course, been lots of news this week of the non-economic variety. We, though,
0:45.4	are going to stay in our lane because that is what we do best, and also because there has been lots of news this week of the very economic variety. Sudeep Reddy is the Washington Bureau Chief
0:51.2	at MSNBC. Jordan Holman is at the New York Times. Hey, you too.
0:55.2	Hey, Kai.
0:56.5	Hey, Kai.
0:57.6	Sudeep, I'm going to start with you.
0:59.2	We're going to start with inflation.
1:00.5	Both the CPI and the PPI came out this week.
1:04.0	Producer prices, wholesale inflation.
1:06.1	Not so bad.
1:07.7	CPI, though, consumers paying an ever-increasing amount more. Stagflation, stickiness, what's the
1:16.2	word that comes to mind for you? Concerning, because we thought that for many months, we thought
1:25.1	maybe the tariff effect wasn't that bad. Maybe people weren't going to see as much damage through inflation.
	...

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