Stocks are firmly higher, but showing weakness following the overnight euphoria by a debt-deluded Europe.
PPI 0.0%. Retail sales tanked, even despite back-to-school sales.
Advance retail sales printed at 0.0%, below consensus 0.2% and down from a downward revised 0.3% in July. Retail ex sales and autos was the lowest since December 2010. Some comments from Bloomberg on this latest miss: Clothing sales down 0.7%, department stores down 0.3%; consumers likely cut purchasing due to rising cotton, other materials costs, says Bloomberg economist Joseph Brusuelas. "Sales disappoint as households deleveraging, real incomes decline."
