Retail sales remain strong, but consumers face slowing wage growth and rising credit card debt, limiting their ability to absorb future tariff-driven price hikes.

U.S. stock futures rose on Friday to a new record high, as investors awaited the latest update on the health of the U.S. consumer and sifted through the purchases of investing legends including Warren Buffett.

Policymakers are under pressure to roll out more stimulus to revive domestic demand and ward off external shocks to the $19 trillion economy.

This week’s retail sales report will show if resilient spending can withstand rising prices and tariff uncertainty.

Sales at retailers rose solidly in July for the second month in a row, but the increase in spending appeared to be a double-edged sword: Americans are still confident enough in the economy to spend, but they are also paying more because of higher inflation.

Here are three of the stories Wall Street is watching on Friday, Aug. 15. Retail sales in July rose 0.5% from the month prior, slightly below the 0.6% economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today in Alaska.

Real Retail Sales are holding steady but on an uptrend from April 2024. The past 2mos saw higher revisions. There was a noted boost in Light Weight Vehicle Sales & Parts with the 16.411Mil SAAR coming in 1mil above the forecasted 15.3Mil level.

July's solid 0.5% increase in retail sales was giving way to greater optimism in the stock market on Friday about the ability of consumer