Growth is Still on the Slow Track
· Economic growth clearly remains on the slow track, and inflation expectations continue to diminish. Views on the Fed were temporarily swayed by release of the October FOMC meeting minutes but market participants still expect the Fed to hold off tapering until March 2014.
· Retail sales came in slightly above expectations, with sales rising 0.4 percent in October.
· November homebuilder confidence and October existing home sales came in below expectations and the November Philadelphia Fed survey also weakened significantly.
