THE MACRO FUSE · FOUR RELEASES, ONE POLICY TRAP

The Next Seven Days Can Reprice Every Major Asset

The labor market has already weakened. Now inflation, spending and the Fed's internal debate arrive in sequence.

−23KJuly nonfarm payroll change
3.5%June CPI, year over year
5.5%June PPI, year over year
9–3July FOMC vote to hold
AUG 12 · 8:30 ET

July CPI

Tests whether June's energy-led decline was durable or temporary.

HOT → yields, dollar up

Long bonds and expensive growth absorb the first hit.

COOL → easing returns

Duration rallies—unless weak demand becomes the bigger fear.

AUG 13 · 8:30 ET

July PPI

Shows whether business input costs are still feeding the pipeline.

HOT AFTER SOFT CPI

The “inflation solved” narrative can reverse in one morning.

COOL WITH CPI

The Fed gets a cleaner path toward patience or easing.

AUG 14 · 8:30 ET

Retail Sales

Separates falling inflation from falling household demand.

STRONG → no easy cuts

Consumers keep growth alive but can preserve price pressure.

WEAK → earnings risk

Rate relief may arrive only because the economy is cracking.

AUG 19 · 2:00 ET

FOMC Minutes

Reveals how close the July hold was to becoming a rate hike.

HAWKISH SPLIT

Three dissents may look like the start of a larger bloc.

CAUTIOUS MAJORITY

Employment weakness can regain priority after the vote.

The viral story is the sequence—not one number.

A soft CPI can rally bonds, a hot PPI can reverse them, weak retail sales can turn good inflation news into a recession warning, and the minutes can reprice the policy path again.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau and Federal Reserve. Dates and latest readings as of Aug. 12, 2026; all times Eastern.