Weak Week

Initial weekly jobless claims, a proxy for job losses, rose by 181,000, its biggest rise since 8/22/20, almost five months ago. Moreover, retail sales fell for the third straight month, consumer confidence slipped slightly, and inflation be it the CPI, or producer prices, remains well in check. The Fed will not raise rates before 2023 and will not taper their purchases of treasuries or MBS before 2022. The economy’s sputtering.