less than expected. With 80% of the Bureau of Labor Statistics employees laid off, cities where data is no longer collected are being marketed at zero. Chinese products are no longer countered where tariffs have caused high price gains. Go to Safeway to learn what the true inflation rate is.

Several Canadian provinces pulled US wine and spirits from stores after President Donald Trump started a trade war, costing American booze-makers millions of dollars in sales, with almost three-quarters of Canadians still supporting the initiative. They are suffering in Tennessee, which has lost most export markets just when they were taking off.

It seems that fighting wars in three countries is putting a dent in airline traffic. I attended a conference in Florida last week, and 30 people couldn’t make it because the airspace over the Caribbean was closed. Those who came early couldn’t get home. Buy (DAL) on dips; it’s a great company.

Inventories were up 1.7% YOY. Median prices fell 3% to $392,000. Housing starts fell 4.6%.

Tokyo has returned from holiday with a bang, rising 3% to an all-time peak as investors welcome a weakening yen and the ​chance of even more aggressive fiscal stimulus. South Korea and Taiwan also hit records, while China scaled ‌a four-year top. Going the other way, the yen hit record lows on the euro and Swiss franc and multi-year troughs on a range of others. The shortening of the yen helped save the dollar's blushes as it climbed to 158.65 and steadied from Monday's wobble.