* Fed faces increasingly uncertain autumn due to Delta variant of coronavirus
* Asia’s economic recovery is increasingly vulnerable to Delta variant
* SEC chairman considers tougher regulations for crypto investing
* Global chip shortage that’s bedeviled car industry expected to continue
* Global Mfg PMI slipped in July but continues to indicate solid growth
* US mfg growth slowed for a second month in July via ISM survey data
* US construction spending edged up in June but trend still moving sideways
* US 10-Year Treasury yield fell to 1.20% on Monday–just above 6-month low:

Most of the major asset classes continued to rise in July, led by US real estate investment trusts (REITs). Only stocks in emerging markets lost ground last month.

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* Bipartisan Senate group finalizes text on infrastructure bill
* Dems ask White House to extend eviction ban
* US and UK say Iran responsible for deadly tanker attack off Oman’s coast
* Pandemic-driven slide in interest rates unleashes global boom in house prices
* World’s biggest pension fund cuts US bond weighting sharply to 35%
* Millions of jobless in US are set to lose support in a month
* Will the Fed change monetary policy due to soaring house prices?
* Revised Eurozone Mfg Index for July reflects ‘resilient’ output reading
* India Mfg Index returned to growth in July after brief contraction
* US 10yr-3mo Treasury yield curve continues to flatten:

The economic and financial headlines swirled last week, but the net result was essentially no change to a slight downside bias for performance with our proprietary strategies. As usual, the relatively calm surface activity at the strategy level masked a fair degree of turbulence in some corners for the underlying 16-fund opportunity set.

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● Populism and Trade: The Challenge to the Global Trading System
Kent Jones
Summary via publisher (Oxford U. Press)
Around the world, populism has weaponized anxieties over globalization and other forms of cultural, social, and economic change. Many populist leaders have succeeded in conflating trade concerns with apprehensions over immigration, thereby creating potent campaigns to overturn existing trade agreements and the multilateral cooperation they embody. In the United States, avowed protectionist Donald Trump set out not only to raise tariffs, but to dismantle the system of global trade embodied in the World Trade Organization. In the UK, the Brexit referendum resulted in that country’s withdrawal from the European Union, ending its commitment to trade integration with the continent.

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• US Small-cap stocks rebound, but the outlook is still mixed
• US bonds continue to edge higher as interest rate slip further
• Equal-weight global asset allocation leads our strategy benchmarks this week—and this year!

Signs of life in small caps: For a second straight week, small-cap shares rallied. The iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) rose 1.7% for the week (through July 30), posting the strongest gain for our standard global opportunity set.

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Economists are expecting another decline in today’s June report on US personal income. That’s worrisome because this key indicator has been a relative laggard vs. the strong rebounds in employment, consumer spending and industrial production – collectively known in some circles as the Big Four economic indicators that capture the core of US macro activity.

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* The Delta variant is a headwind for the US economic outlook
* Eurozone economy rebounded in Q2 from recession
* West embraces industrial policies to counter China
* CRB Commodities Index rose to 6-year high in Thursday’s trading
* Amazon reports another revenue gain but rise was below expectations
* US jobless claims fell last week, near pandemic low
* US GDP rose less than forecast in Q2, but still beat Q1’s gain (just barely):

The rout in China equities accelerated in recent weeks amid Beijing’s increasingly aggressive regulatory crackdown on its domestic businesses. The market bounced in Thursday’s trading session (July 29) after diving earlier in the week, but on a year-to-date basis a deep shade of red ink prevails for the country’s stock market.

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* Senate advances infrastructure bill with support of 17 Republicans
* Federal Reserve says economic recovery continues ‘making progress’
* China tries to calm fears on Wall Street after regulatory crackdown
* Eurozone economic confidence jumps to a record high in July
* Inflation has become a political weapon in Washington
* US gasoline price ticks up, close to seven-year high: