July 15 Economic Outlook

If the Fed was looking for signs the economy was perking up they wouldn’t be betting on June’s inflation rate.

According to the Labor Department, the consumer price index rose a modest 0.2 percent last month.  When gasoline and food are pulled out, Core CPI rose the same amount. The annualized rate stands at only 1 percent.

Retail sales, however, did post a healthy 0.6 percent gain. Without automobile sales, the rate was 0.7 percent stronger in June.

The news added fuel to the fire as profit-taking and the search for undervalued investments pushed both the Dow and S&P 500 to record levels during the week.