Last week’s wide-ranging data started to give us an idea of whether economic growth (and perhaps even faster growth) continues.

Last week’s economic data was a mixed bag, focusing mostly on the consumer but also touching on business and the economy as a whole.

This is the season of ghosts and goblins, scary monsters, and small children roaming around in packs to loot the neighborhood of candy. In other words, it’s very much like the typical investment environment, with everyone looking to get something sweet but nervous about what might leap out of the bushes.

There have been a lot of headlines in the past couple of days about the proposed mega-merger between AT&T and Time Warner. In fact, I was on CNBC yesterday discussing it. At $85 billion, this would be the sixth-largest merger of all time, so it is indeed a big deal. Does it have any larger meaning, though?

Do big deals signal a market peak? Yesterday afternoon, I was on CNBC’s Power Lunch offering thoughts on the market amid the recent AT&T and Time Warner merger. 

Last week’s reports covered a wide range of the economy.

The headlines this week are all about Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his potential defeat in the U.S. presidential race. He has reserved the right to contest the results of the election, doubling down on his claims that the process is rigged. Although this is the first time the issue has arisen in the presidential forum, claims of data rigging have been quite common in recent years.

Last week’s reports remained modestly positive, although consumer demand showed signs of a slowdown.   

There’s no escaping coverage of the presidential election—what it means, whom to vote for, whom not to vote for. Many of us are deeply engaged in the process and passionately committed to one of the candidates.

At the same time, one of the most important personal consequences of the election will be its effect on our portfolios. Presidents come and go, but your retirement is on the horizon regardless of who’s elected.

Last week’s economic reports showed a range of data, mainly focused on business. The news was surprisingly positive across the board, with business sentiment improving substantially while job growth continued at a more or less steady pace. Overall, based on last week’s data, the economy continues to move forward, with this month’s good news largely reversing the bad news from last month.