U.S. Economy

• Housing starts in the U.S. rose to a seasonally adjusted, annualized number of 1.21 million units, the most since 2007 CNBC
• Consumer inflation increased by 0.1% in July and core inflation (excludes food and energy) increased by only 1.8% over the past year Reuters
• The Federal Reserve minutes released this week indicate that officials have their eyes on the current low inflation environment in the U.S. The New York Times

Around the World

• Japan’s economy shrunk by 1.6% during the second quarter as exports slowed The Wall Street Journal
• The preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China fell further into contraction to the lowest level in six years BBC

Markets

• The price of crude oil fell below $40 a barrel for the first time since 2009 USA Today
• Moving lower this week, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index is off ten percent from its May 2015 peak Forbes
• The yield on a 10-Year U.S. Treasury note declined to nearly two percent to end the week Bloomberg