Sometimes the scorecard of the U.S. economy, known as GDP, tells the whole story. But not for the fourth quarter. The economy was stronger than it looked.

The economy appeared on track to post a robust 3% annual growth rate in the final three months of 2024. [Then the December trade deficit spiked.]( ...

Regular MarketWatch readers might already be aware that U.S. stocks are historically expensive right now, based on several popular metrics. Some have argued that this could signal that the market has ...