"Gold Finance reported that Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X, said the Federal Reserve is likely to take note of continued strong consumer spending after better-than-expected retail sales in the US in August. "With CPI inflation at 2.5%, a real rate of 300 basis points is probably too high, but the Fed does have room to move, initially lowering rates by 25 basis points or lowering rates by a full 50 basis points," he said. He said the key is for the Fed to begin cutting rates, and the magnitude of the cuts may not be as closely tied to the economy. He said that in recent months, retail sales growth has been slightly below the long-term average, but is still growing at a moderate pace."