Good morning!

Markets rebounded Monday after the S&P 500's worst week since early 2023, as inflation came back into focus and following a weaker-than-expected August jobs report. Here's what's happening this week ...

• The big economic news this week is the CPI (Consumer Price Index) report on Wednesday and the PPI (Producer Price Index) on Thursday. Data from both could influence the Fed's upcoming policy moves expected to be announced after its September meeting. On the CPI side, economists are expecting an increase of 2.6% year over year, a slight decrease from July. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy prices, is expected to rise by 3.2%, same as July. PPI numbers are expected to show a 1.7% increase year-over-year and a 2.24% rise in the core PPI, as compared to gains of 2.2% and 2.4%, respectively, in July. *



• Dollar stores, once dominant for low- and middle-income customers, have hit a rough patch, with competition from Walmart and Target undermining their market share and threatening their financial outlook. Both Dollar Tree and Dollar General recently reported weak earnings, in part due to aggressive pricing from Walmart and Target. They're not the only discount stores hurting: Monday morning, retailer Big Lots announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to facilitate a deal to be acquired by Nexus Capital Management. The company plans to keep profitable stores open but reduce its overall footprint and evaluate its distribution model. **

• Last Friday's market sell-off booted 3 of the world's wealthiest people off the $100 billion club, which now has only 12 members. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Michael Dell, and Gautam Adani fell out of this elite group due to significant drops in their net worths, driven by stock market declines. Huang’s wealth decreased by $14.5 billion, Dell’s by $10.7 billion, and Adani’s by $2.4 billion. The overall wealth of the world’s 20 richest people fell by about $60 billion in a single day, with notable losses for Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. Despite these losses, most of the top 18 wealthiest individuals have seen their fortunes grow this year. ***

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