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How to Research a Stock in Stock Rover – Part I
This is the first of a three part blog series designed to show you how to effectively use Stock Rover to research a stock. Part 1 does a deep dive into the Insight Panel, using Microsoft (MSFT) as our example company. You can read our latest blog post here [1].
Economy
The Chicago Business Barometer (also known as the Chicago PMI), which tracks regional manufacturing and service activity, fell [2] to 40.6 in September from 41.5 in August. The drop extended the contraction streak to twenty-two months and, at the second-lowest level this year, largely reversed July’s 6.7-point rebound. The overall decline was mainly driven by sharp reductions in New Orders (-7.0 points), Supplier Deliveries (-6.4 points), and Employment (-4.1 points), with employment hitting its lowest level since June 2009. While Production (+3.8 points) rose for the first time in six months, and Order Backlogs (+3.3 points) showed improvement, these gains were not enough to offset the broader negative trends. Inventories also weakened significantly (-7.5 points), although Prices Paid eased slightly (-0.4 points) to their lowest level since January.
The ADP National Employment Report showed [3] that private-sector employment fell by 32,000 jobs in September, following a sharp revision to August’s figure from a previously reported gain of 54,000 jobs to a loss of 3,000. Small and midsize businesses were the hardest hit, shedding a combined 60,000 positions, while large firms added 33,000. Job losses were concentrated in leisure and hospitality (-19,000), professional and business services (-13,000), and financial activities (-9,000), while education and health services posted a gain of 33,000. Construction and manufacturing each edged down by 7,000 jobs, while most other industries showed little change. Annual pay for job-stayers rose 4.5%, while job-changers saw a slower 6.6% increase, down from 7.1% the previous month.
For the week ending September 26, 2025, U.S. crude oil refinery inputs saw a decrease [4] of 308 million barrels per day (bpd), down to 16.2M bpd. Refinery operating capacity also fell to 91.4% from the previous week’s 93.1%. Gasoline output slipped to 9.3 million bpd, while distillate fuel edged down to 5.0 million bpd. Crude oil imports fell by 662,000 bpd to 5.8 million, bringing the four-week average to 6.1 million bpd, 7.5% below last year. Commercial crude inventories rose 1.8 million barrels to 416.5 million, about 4% below the five-year average, while gasoline stocks added 4.1 million to 220.7 million, roughly in line with the five-year average. Distillate inventories gained 0.6 million but remained 6% below the five-year average, and propane/propylene climbed 3.5 million to 13% above the five-year average. Total petroleum inventories expanded by 6.4 million barrels.
Upcoming Economic Reports:
Tuesday October 7 – Consumer Credit (August)
Thursday October 9 – Initial Jobless Claims
Earnings Calendar: