US retail sales rebounded slightly… …though American consumer credit growth slowed. South African inflation ticked up thanks to the weakening rand. Brazilian inflation hit double digits for the first time in a dozen years. Chinese trade continues to slow down. Taiwan’s exports tend follow China’s, which is to say they’re down these days. Not even Germany is immune from slowing global trade. China’s foreign exchange reserves shrank at their fastest pace since August’s yuan devaluation. In fact, China allowed the yuan to weaken to its lowest level against the US dollar since 2011. Feeling the China slowdown, New Zealand completely cut rates again to shore up growth. Revised data showed Japan had only three, not four, recessions in the last five years.
