Recent U.S. economic data has been reasonably good. October reports for retail sales, existing home sales, new home sales, and durable goods all exceeded consensus expectations. In addition, 3rd Quarter GDP was revised up last week from 1.9% to 2.1%. Combing the GDP upward revision with other upbeat October reports, Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group told CNN that this tells “the story that recession is nowhere to be seen and should not be on anyone’s radar in 2020.” We agree. Barring a complete collapse of negotiations with China and significant new barriers to trade, we expect the consumer to do their part to keep the ball rolling. Speaking of th