(New York)

Where is the economy headed? Investors seem to be torn at the moment. On the one hand they seem to feel that the economy must be headed south because of the long running expansion and recent inversion, but on the other, there is little data to really back up that claim. Accordingly, every new piece of economic data is being closely watched right now. The newest in is retail sales, which had fallen a bit recently. Today, though, is a different story, with March retail sales seeing their biggest jump in 18 months, rising 1.6% month on month.

FINSUM: Seeing evidence that consumers still look healthy is a testament to the fact that the underlying economy still looks strong.