Rate Decision Wednesday. Retail First. Plan the Sequence.
Census retail and trade prices print into the same Wednesday morning as the FOMC rate decision and press conference. Housing Thursday, industrial production Friday. Pono Radio and free FundedFlow stay on the desk between prints.
September 14–18, 2026
Wednesday is the week. Census Advance Retail Sales and import/export prices hit at 8:30 a.m. ET. The FOMC rate decision and statement land at 2:00 p.m., with the press conference at 2:30. Housing prints Thursday. Industrial production prints Friday. The expensive mistake is treating every print as a fresh thesis instead of one sequence into policy.
Last week already did the inflation vote. CPI and Real Earnings printed Friday. Equities closed that cash session green while the week still finished red. Weekend Review left the same operating rule on the desk: wait for the location, set the alert, live off the charts. Missed fills stay missed. This note does not invent new levels.
This week answers a different question. Prices already spoke. Policy speaks Wednesday afternoon. The morning consumer and trade-price prints are context for that vote — not a separate invitation to max size before the statement.
The Week's Confirmed Decision Points
All times are Eastern. Confirmed rows come from the named agency calendars. Claims is the recurring DOL Thursday print.
| Day | Time | Confirmed event | What traders need to learn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Sep 14 | Cash week opens | First full cash week after CPI. No Tier-1 US print on the agency calendars for Monday. | Does the post-CPI repair hold with participation, or does the tape wait for Wednesday. |
| Tue Sep 15 | 8:30 a.m. | NY Fed Empire State Manufacturing Survey (September). Same day: FOMC day one. | Regional factory vote into the meeting. Positioning session — not a second inflation print. |
| Wed Sep 16 | 8:30 a.m. | Census Advance Monthly Retail Sales (August). Same window: BLS Import and Export Price Indexes (August). | Consumer demand and trade-price context into the afternoon policy print.
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