The week of August 11 kept markets off-balance from the open. Iran’s Strait of Hormuz standoff anchored the macro backdrop, with oil well bid and inflation anxiety running hot, while three back-to-back U.S. data releases drove more intraday movement than any diplomatic headline could manage. CPI matched forecasts on Wednesday and still triggered a sharp reversal. A softer PPI on Thursday sent the S&P 500 to a fresh record and cut Fed hike odds. Retail sales then missed by the most in over a year on Friday, briefly dragging the dollar to its weekly low before a yield-driven recovery clawed back most of the losses. Gold held up as both a haven and inflation proxy. Crude climbed on the Hormuz supply premium, and the Canadian dollar outperformed the field.
