Higher For Longer Hits Home! [Podcast]

Wall Street’s main stock indexes closed sharply lower on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected retail sales data stoked worries interest rates could stay higher for longer, while U.S. big banks dropped on a report that Fitch could downgrade some lenders. The U.S. retail sales data comes on the heels of strong inflation readings for July, and could potentially give the Fed more impetus to remain hawkish in the coming months. Such a scenario bodes poorly for risk-driven assets, particularly tech stocks. The Commerce Department report showed retail sales grew 0.7% last month against expectations of a 0.4% rise, suggesting the U.S. economy […]