Believe it or not, investors do sometimes think about things that are not directly related to US interest rate policy.
Of course, the debate over what the Federal Reserve does next matters. It is unquestionably the biggest issue of the moment. This week it dominated otherwise sleepy summertime market conditions yet again, thanks to data showing a modest slowdown in inflation.
The annual rate dropped to 8.5 per cent in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday, down from 9.1 per cent in the previous month, firing up expectations that the Fed might be convinced to damp down interest rate rises. This so-called pivot has been on again and off again more times in the past month than I care to remember. It has the shelf life of a Tory leadership candidate’s core policy agenda. But now, to some degree at least, it is back on, supporting stocks.