OLOXF - Bond Traders (Not The Fed) Control Interest Rates

2024-06-25 02:40:00 ET

Summary

• The big news last week was that the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose by only 0.1% in May, below the analysts’ consensus estimate of 0.3%.
• Like the G7 conference in Italy, the recent Ukrainian peace conference in Switzerland was a bust.
• The Financial Times has reported that Europe bought more Russian natural gas in May than U.S. natural gas.

The big news last week was that the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose by only 0.1% in May, below the analysts’ consensus estimate of 0.3%. April retail sales were also revised down to a -0.2% decline, from unchanged. Excluding gasoline, retail sales rose 0.3% in May. Five of the 13 categories tracked by the Commerce Department contracted in May. Despite this weak retail sales report, the Atlanta Fed kept their second-quarter GDP estimate at 3% (annualized), nearly equal to its previous 3.1% rate....

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