FXG

First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX ETF (FXG) declares $0.1822/share quarterly dividend, 26% increase from prior dividend of $0.1446.Forward yield 1.43%Payable Dec. 31; for shareholders of record Dec. 28; ex-div Dec.

While Bitcoin was clinching an almost 200% rally that took it above $20,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a more eye-popping manifestation of the crypto craze emerged this week.

Medical-device makers are charging into 2021 poised for a fresh blast of deal making with soaring share prices and piles of cash at the ready.

Retail sales and food-services spending posted a strong gain in September.The September gain was the fifth in a row.Core retail sales, which exclude motor vehicles and gasoline retailers, posted a 1.5 percent gain for the month.Unit vehicle sales, reported earlier in the month, have also staged a very solid recovery.Results across the various categories of retailers were mostly positive in September.

Industrial production has a 100-year-plus record of measuring the production side of the economy.Similarly, retail sales have a 70-year-plus record of measuring the consumption side of the economy.In September, both surprised, as production failed to confirm leading indicators and declined, while sales boomed despite the ending of emergency Congressional assistance.I am inclined to take both with extra grains of salt as potentially impacted by pandemic-related seasonal distortions.