I hope your weekend is off to a great start. I wanted to remind you that if you’d like me to add any of your colleagues, friends, or family to the distribution list for this weekly write-up, feel free to pass their email address along. I’m really pleased with how it’s growing.

Here’s some of what we’re seeing right now:

Economic sentiment climbed for the third straight reading, achieving a new 2017 high. Overall, confidence in the broader U.S. economy and major purchases drove the uptick in the past two weeks, overcoming a decline in people’s attitudes toward their personal finances. It will be interesting to see how the healthcare debate shakes out and what effect that has in the coming days. I’ll let you know if we see any major shifts before our next public report.

Pinterest is growing – especially among men. While Snapchat has grabbed all the social media headlines lately, Pinterest keeps expanding, not only in its user base but in revenue as well. What most people don’t realize is the extent to which men have been using the site in increased numbers. Growth of daily male users in the past 6 months has been particularly high. If this trend continues, it could open up entirely new partnerships and monetization opportunities for Pinterest.

Wells Fargo may have a winner on its hands with card-less ATMs. As I pointed out a couple weeks ago, there are some notable trends emerging in the retail banking space, post-Trump. Likely bank switchers are now far more likely to be Republicans than they were just 4 months ago. 7% of consumers said they would consider switching to Wells Fargo for access to its new app-based ATM service. And guess what. They’re far more likely to be Republicans, Gen Xers, and parents. 7% may seem small but in a hyper-competitive industry like retail banking, it’s no joke.

The rapid convergence of brands and politics is extending beyond the consumer marketplace and into employee recruitment. 45% of U.S. adults say that a company’s social and political orientation is at least somewhat important in choosing a place to work. 6% characterize it as a “deal-breaker.” I see these data cutting two ways: Large companies need to be mindful of which employee segments they’re alienating when they take a political stance. Smaller companies, meanwhile, can use socio-political positioning to outflank larger employers when competing for talent. Look for this to become more a part of the game.

Sometimes we do research just to settle inner-office debates. In case you were wondering, 2/3 of Americans believe it’s inappropriate for someone to blow their nose in public.

I have no doubt that’s the most important thing you will read all weekend.

JD