While consumers are keeping their wallets open, the fuel driving spending is starting to run out.

Following seven consecutive weekly declines, the stock market staged a robust advance this week, with the S&P 500 gaining 6.6 percent.

Investors had their eyes laser-focused on this week’s consumer price report for April, which, as expected, continued to fly well above the Federal Reserve’s comfort level and further backed up polls that indicate inflation is the primary concern of households.

The inflation story continued to dominate headlines and stoke volatility in the financial markets this week.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH), May is High Blood Pressure Education month. If the heart-palpitating events of the past week are any indication, the Institute has its work cut out for it. It’s hard to recall another week that generated as much drama or anxiety.

The soft landing crowd got a rude awakening this week when the Commerce Department reported that the economy contracted in the first quarter, the first downturn in GDP since the pandemic-induced recession in 2020.

Since 2011 the 10-year Treasury yield has pierced 3.0 percent on rare occasions – a few brief months in the fall of 2018 and 1 or 2 daily forays in late 2013.