With summer coming to a close, the markets have a lot to digest over the next few months, begging the following questions:
- Will the U.S. economy continue to grow at a robust rate?
- Will stocks make new highs as earnings expand?
- Will the Federal Reserve continue to gradually raise interest rates?
- Will the yield curve invert?
- Will trade conflicts and geopolitical events derail the economy?
These questions and many others will be on the forefront of investors’ minds. This week is off to a fast start trade-wise with the potential for an escalation in the competing tariffs between the U.S. and China, as well as continued U.S.-Canada NAFTA negotiations. I continue to believe that trade issues will stay in control and ultimately have the potential to help U.S. long-term growth prospects.
We will also see the August jobs report this week. Expectations are for approximately 192,000 new jobs and for the jobless rate to fall to 3.8%. Markets will be watching closely for any clues regarding hourly earnings, as wage gains have been elusive.
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