Rover's Weekly Market Brief - 09/18/2026

September 18, 2026 Stock Rover Staff  Printer Friendly

Introducing Enhanced Ticker Tooltips

We have expanded the Table’s ticker cell tooltip from a single static view into a suite of highly customizable, strategy-specific research displays. Learn how to select tailored data layouts, such as Value, Growth, Dividend, and Trader, and adjust chart timeframes to instantly examine any ticker through your preferred analytical lens. You can read more about this new feature in our latest blog post.

Economy

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that advance retail and food services sales increased 1.2% in August to a seasonally adjusted $773.9 billion, following a revised 0.5% decrease in July, while total sales were 6.0% higher than a year earlier. The monthly increase reflected broad-based consumer spending, led by a 3.1% gain in gasoline stations and a 2.6% increase in nonstore retailers, while miscellaneous store retailers rose 1.9%. These gains, along with a 1.2% uptick in food services and drinking places, were partially offset by a 0.8% decline in department stores and a 0.2% decrease in building material and garden equipment dealers. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles, parts, and gasoline stations increased 1.2% in August and were 5.6% higher than a year ago. On a year-over-year basis, gasoline stations posted a 21.0% increase, followed by miscellaneous store retailers (+14.0%), sporting goods & hobby stores (+10.7%), nonstore retailers (+9.9%), and total retail and food services (+6.0%).

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that it will raise the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage points to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%. The September FOMC statement noted that “Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace” with resilient domestic spending and steady job gains, while cautioning that “Inflation remains elevated”. The FOMC’s latest quarterly economic projections indicate that median real GDP growth is expected to be 2.3% in 2026, up slightly from the 2.2% forecast in June. The median unemployment rate projections for 2026 and 2027 were both lowered to 4.1% from June’s 4.3% forecast. The 2026 PCE inflation forecast was lifted to 3.7% from 3.6%, and core PCE inflation rose to 3.4% from 3.3%. The FOMC also shifted its projected policy path higher, with the median federal funds rate now projected at 4.1% for both 2026 and 2027, 3.9% for 2028, and 3.6% for 2029.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that privately-owned building permits in August 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,394,000, representing a 2.7% decrease from July’s downwardly revised rate of 1,433,000, though remaining 3.5% above August 2025 levels. Single-family authorizations fell 1.8% to a rate of 878,000, while authorizations for units in buildings with five or more units stood at 467,000. Privately-owned housing starts fell 2.6% month-over-month to an annual rate of 1,275,000, which was down 1.2% from a year earlier, while July’s overall housing starts were revised upward to 1,309,000. Within those August starts, single-family units were 7.6% above the revised July rate at 918,000. Housing completions saw a sharper pullback, declining 11.9% from July’s upwardly revised estimate of 1,280,000 to an annual rate of 1,128,000, placing them 27.1% below August 2025 levels. Single-family completions decreased 10.4% to 816,000, while completions of units in buildings with five or more units stood at 302,000.

Upcoming Economic Reports:

Thursday September 24 – New Home Sales (MoM) (August)

Friday September 25 – Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (August)

Earnings Calendar: