* Pentagon’s high China official is visiting Taiwan
* US mortgage charges rise for second week–common 30-year fastened at 6.32%
* Shopper sector in US displaying new indicators of resilience
* Will optimism in monetary markets strengthen Fed’s hawkish financial bias?
* US wholesale costs re-accelerate in January–new warning signal for inflation
* Philly Fed Manufacturing Index falls sharply in February
* US housing begins fall in January–lowest degree since pandemic was raging in 2020:

Investor purchases of houses fell sharply within the fourth quarter, in keeping with knowledge from Redfin. “Investor purchases of U.S. houses fell a report 45.8% yr over yr within the fourth quarter because the excessive value of borrowing cash and the prospect of considerable home-price declines made actual property investing much less engaging. The second greatest decline occurred in 2008, when investor purchases slumped 45.1% in the course of the subprime mortgage disaster.”