According to the National Retail Federation some 150 million US adults will “participate in Halloween-related activities.” Digging deeper into the data, 53% will decorate their homes, 46% have pumpkin-carving plans, and 18% will “dress up their pet.”

Recognizing some animals are more receptive to costuming than others, having one in five Americans squeezing Fidos into pumpkin outfits seems more trick than treat. Nevertheless we are encouraged that families are leaning into the second-costliest holiday in terms of dollars spent.

Putting cash to work is also much on the minds of private credit and private equity investors. With 60 shopping days until year end, the appetite for yield remains keen.

This leads some observers to fret about market conditions getting frothy again. “Aren’t you worried lenders will get too aggressive” one journalist inquired this week. “Or that too much capital is being raised again for private credit?”