Consumer prices grew at the fastest pace of the cycle for a second straight month in September.

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.4% year over year last month. Consumer prices increased at a healthy pace, even as year-over-year growth in the core Producer Price Index (PPI) declined for an eighth straight month.

We have yet to see slowing producer price growth weigh down consumer inflation, likely because U.S. companies still have ample pricing power amid solid domestic consumer demand.

“Consumer inf

The United States and China have faced growing economic pressure to reach a trade deal. However, the stress may be fading for one party.

As shown in LPL Research’s Chart of the Day, China’s economy is exhibiting signs of stabilizing growth, according to composite leading indicators (CLI) data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD’s assessment of the Chinese economy improved for a sixth straight month in August, while the OECD’s U.S. gauge continued to slip.

To be sure, the OECD’s leading indicators gauge shows that both the United

“The economy, stupid” — Phrase campaign strategist James Carville used to help Bill Clinton get elected in 1992.

As Carville noted ahead of the 1992 election, the recession in 1990 and 1991 was top of mind for many voters as they headed to the polls to vote for either incumbent President George H.W. Bush or opponent Bill Clinton. And now we see investors becoming more skittish around the U.S. economic outlook just before we flip the calendar to 2020, a presidential election year. Is there any logic behind the idea that a well-performing economy tends to make voters feel better about voting for the current admini