We have seen a big surge in the dollar and long term-interest rates, which means inflation needs to be contained.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for July 31.

During the last two decades, the percentage of the U.S. economy devoted to consumer spending went up from 67% of GDP to 72%.

The ongoing housing recession, mounting job losses, and indications of slowing consumer spending leads many to believe that the US economy is in the midst of a real economic recession, and the upcoming GDP report will go a long way to dispel or confirm such pessimistic sentiment.

The past two quarters have seen the economy pushed to the brink of a recession.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for July 30.

Has inflation topped out?

The Federal Reserve’s most recent Beige Book report summarized the current economic and financial situation best, as it noted rising price pressures, slowing growth, and tightening credit.  However, many individual FOMC members have focused more on the inflation issue.

The recoveries in the US dollar and equities have been very impressive.

Eurostat estimates for Euro-zone CPI are expected to show that inflation accelerated at an even faster clip of 4.1 percent in July.