Fall means cooler weather, changing leaves, and for investors it's another earnings season. Between the Fed's new rate-hike cycle, Big Tech's ongoing AI spending spree, and consumers gearing up for the holidays, there's a lot to watch this month.

At Carnegie Investment Counsel, we're focused on three things: what companies are actually getting for their AI investments, how healthy the consumer really is, and whether rising energy prices start feeding back into inflation.

As we head into September, the investment team at Carnegie continues to monitor key data that will impact market conditions. Interest rates remain elevated; inflation continues to be a concern, and the enormous investment behind artificial intelligence is creating opportunities as well as risks. At the same time, the strength of the consumer is becoming more difficult to assess, and markets continue to rotate beneath the surface.

Against that backdrop our focus remains on understanding what is driving portfolio performance, maintaining diversification and being selective about where we take risk.