Danielle Kurtzleben

The New York Stock Exchange — that bastion of American capitalism — owes its existence to two dozen men, a buttonwood tree, and a coffee shop. Today on The Indicator: the history of Wall Street.

One way to think of President Trump's trade policy is as a sort of soap opera. Today, we catch you up on the latest dramatic twists and also answer a big, looming question: are we in a trade war?

The Congressional Budget Office has a long history of disputes with the White House, including the current administration. But the first-ever director of the CBO says this time is different.

So how much should you have saved for retirement? We wanted to know, so we asked the guy who invented the 401k.

The monthly jobs report. Economists watch it, financial markets move on it, but it may not be as accurate as you'd think.

Friday is jobs day, when the monthly employment report comes out, but those numbers come with a big asterix, including the massive margin of error, and the revisions. But what does this say about the reports as an economic indicator?

Democrats have been pushed out of power at all levels of state and federal government. They have lost a lot of ground in Iowa, where the state party is rebuilding from the grassroots.

Four years ago, Republicans went into midterms focused on dismantling the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Democrats now believe the health care issue could boost them to victory in November.

The unanimous decision comes as a record number of women run for the U.S. House — and motherhood takes on an increasingly visible role in politics.

The "wave of women" candidates played out in this week's primaries in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia, particularly among Democrats. There were 27 women winners in House primaries.

Women had particularly strong success in Tuesday's primaries for congressional seats. It's part of a broader pattern of record numbers of women running for office in 2018.

Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders and others back "job guarantee" programs to assure jobs for all who want them. It's another sign of top Democrats embracing further left positions.

A congressional candidate is asking the Federal Election Commission to decide whether she's allowed to use campaign funds to pay for child care while she spends her days on the trail.

Liuba Grechen Shirley, a Democratic congressional candidate in New York, is petitioning the Federal Election Commission to use campaign funds for child care while she devotes time to running for office.

The number of women running for Congress has jumped sharply this year. So has the number of men.

One lesson: Social media plays a bigger role in bringing people to fake news sites than it does in bringing them to real news sites.

"Suburban women" have been a political fixation for decades. "We're really talking about ... relatively educated and affluent whites," said one Republican strategist.

Democratic and Republican women have come together to ask that their chamber take up legislation overhauling how harassment claims are handled on Capitol Hill.

Pollsters say that candidates who are women are uniquely positioned to do well in 2018 — and that many voters choose partly based on gender (even when they don't realize it).

The campaign ads represent one way that women are increasingly willing to break the mold of the standard candidate, in a year with record numbers of women running for office.