📈 Chart of the Week 8/9/2026 By Michael Allison, CFA 🪜 The First Rung Is Missing Two charts this week, and together they tell a story about our younger generations. The first chart shows that new business applications are still strong; Americans keep forming companies at a healthy clip. But look at the red line: applications from businesses with a “high propensity to hire” are rolling over. The right-hand panel is instructive. Across millions of small businesses, payroll spend has gone...