Weekly Market Commentary 09/7/2018

There was something for everyone is the latest employment report released on Friday, capping a holiday-shortened trading week that saw modest declines in both bond and stock prices. On balance, the report came in on the strong side, providing further evidence that the economy is growing at a solid pace in the third quarter, albeit still somewhat slower than the robust 4.2% increase recorded in the April-June period. What’s more, it cements the widespread conviction that the Federal Reserve will hike its short-term policy rate at the next meeting on September 25-26. We suspect that conditions for another hike in December will remain in place, barring a sudden confidence-shattering shock from a trade war or other external event that threatens to derail activity.