Hot News: July Retail Sales Stronger; Producer Prices Come in Better Than Expected

The July retail sales (definition | chart | source ) numbers came in stronger than expected this morning and the Producer Price Index (definition | chart | source ) came in a bit better than expected.

Producer Price Index for July. Source: Labor Department. Actual: unchanged. Reuters forecast: +0.1%. Previous: +0.6%. Ex-food and energy. Actual: 0.1%. Forecast: +0.1%. Previous: -0.1%.

Retail sales for July. Source: Census Bureau. Actual: 0.7%. Reuters forecast: +0.4%. Previous: +0.5%. Ex-autos. Actual: 0.6%. Forecast: +0.4%. Previous: +0.2%.

Thanks to a cool employment report (definition | chart | source ) last Friday, most investors believe the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged when it meets Aug. 22. But now, they wonder whether the economy is slowing too fast, which could mean decreased earnings growth, or if high growth rates can coexist with controlled inflation.

Today's numbers offer Wall Street some guidance. Retail sales measures consumer demand, while the PPI measures changes in prices received by domestic producers of commodities in all stages of processing (crude materials, intermediate materials and finished goods). Both indicators have the potential to be big market shakers.