Edited by Peter Hillerberg2 min readStories are generated from ORTEX data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. How we publish
The two strongest readings in ORTEX's alt data this week come from opposite sides of the Pacific. US nonfarm payrolls, tracked via the Bureau of Labor Statistics dataset ORTEX ingests, reached 159,044 thousand in September 2026. That is the largest September reading on record since 1997, edging past the 158,548 thousand from September 2025. Average hourly earnings climbed to $37.81 in September, the highest September figure on record since 2006, up from $36.70 a year earlier.
In Singapore, visitor arrivals from China hit 435,442 in August 2026, according to the Singapore Tourism Board data ORTEX tracks. That is the largest August total since records began in 2008. Australian arrivals also set an August record over the same period. Battery-electric car registrations in Singapore rose 40% year on year to 2,880 units in August, per the Land Transport Authority data ORTEX monitors, pointing to sustained purchasing power among new arrivals and residents alike.
Not all the real-economy signals are pointing upward. New York State new passenger vehicle registrations collapsed 46% year on year in September to just 16,749 units, the smallest September on record since 2024, according to New York DMV data. US inactive carrier registrations added fell 76% year on year in September, per FMCSA filings ORTEX tracks. Together, those two readings suggest freight capacity and consumer auto demand are under meaningful pressure even as headline labour numbers hold firm.
The captive finance dataset ORTEX ingests from SEC filings shows provisions for credit losses up 27% versus Q2 last year, while recoveries rose 44% over the same period. Buyback spend from the same SEC filings fell 19% year on year in Q2, with shares repurchased down 34%. Hong Kong public transport journeys in July hit their smallest reading in three years, per MTR Corporation data, adding another data point to the picture of weaker urban consumption in Asia.
Medicare Advantage penetration has risen for six consecutive months, reaching 51.1% in June 2026 with 36.1 million beneficiaries, the largest June total on record since 2013 per CMS data. ABBV appears in the drug trials dataset: trial completion date slippage was 0.6 standard deviations below its own history as of late September, per the Citeline trial registry data ORTEX tracks. VST, with a market cap of roughly $48.6 billion and short interest at 3.2% of free float, registered nuclear reactor output 10.0 standard deviations above its own history in early September, per EIA generation data. EXCE saw Wikipedia page views land 10.0 standard deviations above its own history in late September, per the Wikimedia pageview dataset, indicating a sharp spike in retail attention relative to the stock's own baseline.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
