Market Updates

• Yields ended the week higher with the two-year Treasury rising by 14 basis points to 4.46% while the five-year note increased by 6 basis points to 4.01%

• Retail sales advanced by 1.3% versus an expected 1.0% in October as consumers kept their wallets open and continue to spend despite falling real wages in the wake of multi-decades high inflation

• The consumer appears to be in decent shape as the latest retail sales report would indicate, however, other consumer strength metrics might argue otherwise as the personal savings rate has fallen to a 15 year low of 3.1% and consumer credit card debt over the past 12 months has surged by the most in 20 years

• Fed members continue to carry a hawkish tone drawing support from stubbornly tight labor markets and are expected to increase the Fed funds rate to an upper bound of 4.50% at their upcoming December 13th-14th meeting