Just as the declining Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate was helping a bear market catch a break, a sharper-than-expected decline in retail sales during the holiday month and a third consecutive month of decline in industrial activity have reignited concerns of an economic downturn induced by the single-mindedly hawkish Federal Reserve.
Moreover, with the U.S. economy perilously close to defaulting on its stratospheric debt, unless the representative can agree to buy the government more space by raising the debt ceiling, the market volatility is unlikely to ease anytime soon.
