Market Updates

• Yields were mixed over the week as the two-year Treasury note went unchanged at 0.22% while the five-year note increased by five basis points to 0.86%.

• Retail sales surprised posting a 0.7% increase for August as economists were expecting a decrease of -0.7%, and excluding autos—retail sales posted an even more robust 1.8% as it appears consumers have the firepower to propel the expansion into the holidays.

• Delta variant cases and hospitalizations appear to be easing but have already taken a healthy bite out of momentum as Q3 growth has been revised downward and consensus now sits in the 3% to 5% range.

• CPI increased by 5.3% from August last year versus an expected 5.4% while monthly core CPI increased by 0.1% marking the slowest monthly increase since January.