Ahead of the Tape
Business Mood</br></br>May Give Fed</br></br>Leeway to Cut</br></br>Market turmoil has lots of investors betting the Federal Reserve will come to the rescue in the months ahead with interest-rate cuts to boost the economy. The Fed says its bigger concern is still the prospect of inflation, which weighs against interest-rate cuts.</br></br>That makes today's Labor Department report on consumer-price inflation in July especially important. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones estimate the consumer-price index was up a scant 0.1% in July and the core consumer-price index, which doesn't count volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.2%.