Gary Siegel

Director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Principal/Managing Director, KNN Public Finance

The University of Michigan's final September consumer sentiment index reading was 100.1.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business decreased to 56.16 in September from 64.63 in August.

The August Midwest Economy Index slipped to 0.42 from 0.43 in July, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Friday.

Respondents to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's manufacturing survey reported steady activity in September, despite many firms being hurt by tariffs.

Pending home sales dropped 1.8% to an index reading of 104.2 in August, after a revised 0.8% fall to 106.1 in July.

Indications of a more hawkish sentiment at the Fed may continue to pressure tax-exempt yields higher, particularly on the short end of the curve.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said the removal of “accommodative” from the post-Federal Open Market Committee meeting statement doesn’t “represent a change in policy.”

Market expectations for rates appear to be catching up to the Fed’s own projections.

Existing home sales were flat at a seasonally adjusted 5.34 million-unit rate in August.

The composite of the Leading Economic Index was up 0.4% in August following a 0.7% gain in July, the Conference Board said Thursday.

Manufacturers report expanding at a quicker rate in September, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business respondents reported “diminished price pressures this month.”

Richard Clarida was sworn in as vice chairman and a member of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Monday.

Selling prices remained elevated, while business activity expanded at a slower pace in September, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco announced Friday Mary C. Daly was named president and chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2018.

Long considered a dove, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans Friday expressed comfort with the inflation outlook and repeated his belief rates will become slightly restrictive. That led some observers to ramp up concern about the flattening yield curve.

The University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer sentiment index reading was 100.8.

Industrial production grew 0.4% in August, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The federal government ran a $214.1 billion deficit in August.