Good morning,

The 10 Year Treasury Yield fell to 1.99% this morning, meaning lower rates than yesterday, due to the economic / political reports below:

- The March CPI Report (Consumer Price Levels - Inflation) report was released. CPI increased by 0.3%, meeting market expectations. Core CPI (not including food and energy/gas - the two most volatile factors) rose by 0.2%, also meeting market expectations.

- The Michigan Consumer Sentiment report (a Consumer Confidence Measure) decreased in April from a one year high to 75.7, and it came in at a level lower than market expectations (76.2). This drop in consumer confidence was mostly caused by the fears over the employment slowdown over the past two weeks.

- The annual rate of Chinese GDP (Gross Domestic Product) fell in the first quarter of 2012 to 8.1% (from 8.9% last quarter of 2011); this number came in lower than market expectations of 8.3%. The Chinese now hope that the government/central bank will use fiscal/monetary policy to help spur growth in their economy.

- Banks in Spain are now being forced to only rely on the ECB for cheap loans (they are being almost blocked out of the financial markets), thus increasing European Crisis turmoil.

Here is a sneak preview of U.S. Economic releases for next week:
Retail Sales (Monday - one of biggest reports each month), Business Inventories (Monday), Housing Starts / Building Permits (Tuesday), Industrial Production (Tuesday), Weekly Jobless Claims (Thursday), Existing Home Sales (Friday)