Futures wavered between slight gains and losses overnight with investors largely attuned to the Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, over the next two days. Philly Fed President Patrick Harker and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will kick off the festivities today, commenting on the world's largest economy, before Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes the stage tomorrow. The ECB is also scheduled to release minutes of its July policy meeting, at which it raised the possibility of further rate cuts, money printing, and a reprieve from its penalty charge on bank deposits. (SA)

Nordstrom, cheered investors with a stronger than expected quarterly profit, despite a 5 per cent decline in sales, adding to fresh optimism over the health of the retail industry.  The upbeat results came on the heels of blockbuster earnings from industry heavyweights Target and Lowe’s yesterday, whose robust sales growth in the second quarter allayed broader fears of a slowdown in the economy and drove shares across the sector sharply higher. Nordstrom stock jumped as much as 16 per cent more after the publication of its results yesterday. (FT)

The federal government will rack up $12.2T in deficits through 2029, according to a new projection from the Congressional Budget Office, an $809B increase from its last projection in May. That will boost debt held by the public to 95% of gross domestic product, its highest since just after World War II. Fueling the increase from May’s projection is the bipartisan deal to raise spending caps, which would add $1.7T to the deficit over the course of the next decade. (SA)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.