Last week saw the release of a number of important economic updates, with most pointing toward faster growth to start the new year. Highlights included better-than-expected consumer confidence reports, a strong durable goods orders report, and a return to personal spending growth in January. This will be another busy week for updates, with a focus on business confidence and the February employment report.

We have had some turbulence in the market over the past couple of days. The bond market briefly seized up, with interest rates up by surprising amounts. This, in turn, shook the stock market, taking it down from the highs by about 4 percent for the S&P 500 and almost 8 percent for the Nasdaq. On top of all that, we have had events such as the ongoing GameStop show and the explosion of SPAC offerings. With everything that is going on, the recent pullback, and the signs of frenzy, is it time to worry? My take: not yet.

*I will be alternating the text and video versions of this update on a weekly basis. This week is text, next week will be video, and so forth. As always, thanks for reading and watching.

I am sitting down with an advisor and a client this afternoon to discuss a portfolio. Usual enough. But in this case, the portfolio looks a bit different. It has a large number of individual stocks, most of which are in the tech space. Of course, it has done very well over the past year or more.

One of the most common types of questions I have gotten recently has been around interest rates. Rates are going up, and the concern has largely been whether this is a sign of pending inflation. As both my colleague Anu Gaggar and I have written recently, the answer is no, higher rates do not mean inflation is coming. They do mean several other things, however—some bad and some good.

Last week saw a number of important data releases, with the much-better-than-expected January retail sales report and strong industrial production report serving as highlights. This will be another busy week for updates, with a focus on consumer confidence, durable goods orders, and the January personal income and spending reports.

Today I'd like to provide an update on the coronavirus, including the economic and market implications. On the medical front, we appear to be well past the peak of the third wave, with daily infection rates and hospitalizations down. A more contagious variant of the virus could start another wave of infections, although there are no signs of that happening yet.

*Starting next week, February 25, I’ll be publishing my coronavirus update every other week.

Today's post is from Anu Gaggar, senior investment research analyst.

Last week was relatively quiet in terms of economic updates, with only three major data releases. The January Consumer Price Index showed that headline and core consumer inflation remained well constrained to start the year. This week will be busier, as a number of important economic updates are scheduled for release. The January retail sales report will be widely followed, as it is expected to show a return to retail sales growth.