Devastating news came out of Las Vegas early in the week when a lone gunman open fired at a country music festival. The death toll and injury count makes this the greatest shooting tragedy in U.S. history. The people of the wealthy Spanish region, Catalonia, are continuing to push toward independence while Madrid firmly believes this to be an illegal action; protesting in the area has been growing this week and will continue to be a top headline until resolved. Employment data was released for September with some strong results in some areas but concerns in others. Nonfarm payrolls declined due to the effects of Hurricane season but unemployment and wage growth beat expectations.

Markets around the world posted all time highs as manufacturing figures added additional runway to the rally. U.S. large caps had eight consecutive record closes as of Thursday matching a streak dating back 20 years. Small caps continued the strong trailing one-month gain as reflation hopes picked up sentiment for the asset class. Fixed income was broadly unchanged during the week and are lower on a one month basis due to yields rising across all maturities. Market participants are now pricing in a near 90% probability the Fed raises interest rates at the December policy meeting; anticipation also rests on the future Chair of the Open Market Committee as Janet Yellen’s term comes to an end.

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