confident consumer + back to school shopping = good data = continued market updraft.
The August Producer Price Index came in with a 1.7% month-over-month increase, which is greater than the 0.8% monthly increase that economists, on average, had come to expect after the index posted a 0.9% month-over-month decline in July. Excluding food and energy, producer prices increased 0.2% month-over-month, which is a bit more than the 0.1% monthly increase that was widely expected. The previous month's data showed that prices had slipped 0.1%. Advance retail sales for August made a strong 2.7% increase. They had been expected to increase 1.9%. The increase marks a sharp upturn from the downwardly revised 0.2% decline that was registered in July. Excluding autos, retail sales were up a more modest 1.1% in August. The consensus called for a 0.4% increase. Still, the sales less autos figure marked a considerable improvement from the 0.5% decline that was made in July. Last on the list is the Empire Manufacturing Survey, which came in at 18.9 for September. That marks its sixth straight month of improvement. It was also better than the reading of 15.0 that was widely expected. Stock futures have improved a bit in the wake of the data, but they continue to point to a relatively flat start for the session.
