Last week’s economic data releases focused on durable goods orders, consumer confidence, and consumer income and spending. The news was a bit mixed, as we saw stronger-than-expected consumer spending growth despite a drop in consumer confidence. This week, although short, will be busy again, with updates on business confidence, trade, and the August job report.

Brad here. Today's post on what the Hong Kong protests could mean for global investors is by Anu Gaggar, international analyst at Commonwealth. Take it away, Anu!

Yesterday, we discussed business confidence and concluded that it is better than the headlines suggest. Today, we are going to look at the even more important level of consumer confidence—and whether it may be considerably weaker than it appears.

Yesterday, I talked about what I am keeping an eye on, business and consumer confidence, and why I think they are important. Today and tomorrow, I want to talk about how I plan to do that.

Business confidence is leading the headlines right now. With the trade war and the general economic slowdown around the world, U.S. business is reported to be suffering. That seems to be true, but is that suffering bad enough to affect the economy as a whole?

All right, going on vacation was a mistake. The market started dropping just before we left and has recovered upon our return. Sorry about that. Now that I am back, though, we can be confident that the market will keep rising. Right? Right?

Maybe not, but the real issue here is not whether the market will keep rising—that is a consequence, not a cause—but whether confidence, which has kept the economy expanding and the market rising, will persist.

Last week was relatively quiet, with the only economic updates being housing sales data and the release of the minutes from the Fed’s July meeting. This week will be much busier, with updates covering durable goods orders, consumer confidence, and consumer income and spending.

Do I think the Fed has been clear it's not going to react to headlines? I discussed this and more today on Yahoo Finance’s YFi AM.

Brad here. Today's post features a dive into second-quarter earnings season. It was written by Jim McAllister, director, equity research, on our Investment Management and Research team. Take it away, Jim.

Earnings season tends to generate a lot of headlines at both the individual stock level and the broad index level. During this most recent earnings season, those headlines have been telling conflicting stories. On the positive side, we have heard that the vast majority of companies in the S&P 500 are beating earnings expectations. But other sources are more bearish, claiming the S&P 500 has officially entered an earnings recession. What’s really going on?

This afternoon I appeared on CNBC’s The Exchange to discuss the Fed and rate cuts. Listen in to learn more.

Brad here. Today's post was written by Michael Geraci, a supervisor on our Retirement Consulting Investment Services team. Take it away, Michael. 

Evaluating your 401(k) plan can be a brutal and daunting process. It may leave you with many questions about the investments available to you and how to best manage your account. It may even deter some from participating in the plan altogether. Fortunately, there are ways to help simplify the process. The first step? Understanding one of the most commonly used investment options within 401(k) plans: the target-date fund, or TDF.