Treasuries are little changed this morning following back-and-forth trading overnight (better buying from Asia and better selling from Europe). Equity markets are fairly quiet today as well, with S&P 500 futures currently unchanged. The Senate voted 67-31 yesterday to pass a bill that would revamp some of the post-crisis restrictions of Dodd-Frank. This included support from moderate Democrats, and following some small adjustments, the legislation is also expected to pass in the House. The bill includes an increase in the threshold for “too big to fail” banks from $50 billion to $250 billion, and depositories with less than $10 billion assets would be exempt from Volcker Rule compliance. The markets were expecting the Senate to pass the bill, so there wasn’t much of a reaction to the headline. The current focus seems to be centered much more on trade negotiations and next week’s Fed meeting than anything else, particularly for equity investors.

Jason Haley
Managing Director, Investment Management Group

Date TimeEventSurveyActualPrior
03/12/2018Monthly Budget Statement-$216.0b-$215.2b-$192.0b
03/13/2018NFIB Small Business Optimism107.1107.6106.9
03/13/2018CPI MoM0.20%0.20%0.50%
03/13/2018CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM0.20%0.20%0.30%
03/13/2018CPI YoY2.20%2.20%2.10%
03/13/2018CPI Ex Food and Energy YoY1.80%1.80%1.80%
03/13/2018CPI Index NSA248.933248.991247.867
03/13/2018CPI Core Index SA255.8255.751255.287
03/13/2018Real Avg Weekly Earnings YoY0.60%0.40%
03/13/2018Real Avg Hourly Earning YoY0.40%0.80%
03/14/2018MBA Mortgage Applications0.90%0.30%
03/14/2018Retail Sales Advance MoM0.30%-0.10%-0.30%
03/14/2018Retail Sales Ex Auto MoM0.40%0.20%0.00%
03/14/2018Retail Sales Ex Auto and Gas0.30%0.30%-0.20%
03/14/2018Retail Sales Control Group0.40%0.10%0.00%
03/14/2018PPI Final Demand MoM0.10%0.20%0.40%
03/14/2018PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM0.20%0.20%0.40%
03/14/2018PPI Ex Food, Energy, Trade MoM0.20%0.40%0.40%
03/14/2018PPI Final Demand YoY2.80%2.80%2.70%
03/14/2018PPI Ex Food and Energy YoY2.60%2.50%2.20%
03/14/2018PPI Ex Food, Energy, Trade YoY2.70%2.50%
03/14/2018Business Inventories0.60%0.60%0.40%
03/15/2018Empire Manufacturing1522.513.1
03/15/2018Import Price Index MoM0.20%0.40%1.00%
03/15/2018Import Price Index ex Petroleum MoM0.30%0.50%0.50%
03/15/2018Import Price Index YoY3.50%3.50%3.60%
03/15/2018Export Price Index MoM0.30%0.20%0.80%
03/15/2018Export Price Index YoY3.30%3.40%
03/15/2018Initial Jobless Claims228k226k231k
03/15/2018Continuing Claims1903k1879k1870k
03/15/2018Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook2322.325.8
03/15/2018Bloomberg Feb. United States Economic Survey   
03/15/2018Bloomberg Consumer Comfort56.8
03/15/2018NAHB Housing Market Index7272
03/15/2018Total Net TIC Flows-$119.3b
03/15/2018Net Long-term TIC Flows$27.3b
03/16/2018Housing Starts1290k1326k
03/16/2018Housing Starts MoM-2.70%9.70%
03/16/2018Building Permits1320k1396k
03/16/2018Building Permits MoM-4.10%7.40%
03/16/2018Industrial Production MoM0.40%-0.10%
03/16/2018Manufacturing (SIC) Production0.50%0.00%
03/16/2018Capacity Utilization77.70%77.50%
03/16/2018JOLTS Job Openings59005811
03/16/2018Revisions: JOLTS
03/16/2018U. of Mich. Sentiment99.299.7
03/16/2018U. of Mich. Current Conditions114.9
03/16/2018U. of Mich. Expectations90
03/16/2018U. of Mich. 1 Yr Inflation2.70%
03/16/2018U. of Mich. 5-10 Yr Inflation2.50%
03/21/2018MBA Mortgage Applications0.90%
03/21/2018Current Account Balance-$100.6b
03/21/2018Existing Home Sales5.46m5.38m
03/21/2018Existing Home Sales MoM1.50%-3.20%
03/21/2018FOMC Rate Decision (Upper Bound)1.75%1.50%
03/21/2018FOMC Rate Decision (Lower Bound)1.50%1.25%
03/22/2018Initial Jobless Claims226k
03/22/2018Continuing Claims1879k
03/22/2018FHFA House Price Index MoM0.30%
03/22/2018Bloomberg Economic Expectations54.5
03/22/2018Bloomberg Consumer Comfort
03/22/2018Markit US Manufacturing PMI55.3
03/22/2018Leading Index0.40%1.00%
03/22/2018Markit US Services PMI55.9
03/22/2018Markit US Composite PMI55.8
03/22/2018Kansas City Fed Manf. Activity17