Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
If you were rubbing your eyes as I was over that retail sales report, I think I found the answer. A very generous seasonal adjustment factor was at play. The raw NSA data actually showed retail sales plunging -5.6% MoM in June, the worst drubbing in a decade and tied for the steepest plunge since the series began in 1992! Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Possibly responding to this in comments –> Meanwhile: “Upside surprise in Retail Sales (plus positive revision for May) kills off “worst fears” of “cracking consumer” -theme from Equities Index perspective (esp after ugly China data/ European Lux disappoints / negative preannounce)—a “Goldilocks” -type response
One reason why gold and silver after falling when that report came out, eventually reversed and went up bigly. The housing numbers at 10AM were very weak, as will be all numbers that aren’t manufactured by the BLS.(even those get revised later on)