Bernard Madoff, aka prisoner no. 61727-054, shown here in his MCC mugshot.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

 
Convicted Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff has arrived at a federal penitentiary outside Raleigh, North Carolina.

The 71-year-old former financier was transferred today from a corrections facility in Atlanta, Georgia to the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, which is about 30 miles north of Raleigh.

Madoff, otherwise known as federal prisoner No. 61727-054, is expected to undergo a physical and psychological evaluation at Butner before he learns where he'll serve his sentence. It's not immediately clear if Butner is where he’ll stay.

Madoff was sentenced in June to 150 years in prison for a multibillion-dollar fraud that burned thousands of investors.

Goldman is golden

Wall Street has been expecting big things from Goldman Sachs - the first of the major banks to report this earnings season - but this morning’s blowout far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations

Just six months after reporting its first loss as a public company, Goldman posted second-quarter earnings of $3.44 billion, boosted by strength in its trading and underwriting businesses.

And just last month, Goldman repaid $10 billion in taxpayer bailout money that it received as part of the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Other big names reporting financial results this week include JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, IBM, General Electric and Intel.

Economy in focus

Also on our radar today… retail sales rose for the second straight month in June, but the gains came mostly from auto purchases (believe it or not), higher gas prices and a modest pick up in electronics sales.

The Commerce Department says total retail sales rose 0.6% last month, compared with May's gain of 0.5%. Sales excluding autos rose a weaker than expected 0.3%.

And a key gauge of inflation at the wholesale level jumped by twice as much as expected in June on a big rise in energy prices.

The Producer Price Index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, increased by 1.8%, the steepest gain since November 2007, the Labor Department said.

Core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy costs, rose a much greater-than-expected 0.5%, boosted by car and truck sales.

Speaking of retail sales… back-to-school spending is set to slip 7.7% this year, according to a survey released this morning.

Thanks to pay cuts and job losses, cash-strapped consumers are planning to spend less on everything from pens and paper to fall clothing.

The average family with students in grades kindergarten through high school is expected to spend $548.72 on school supplies, down from $594.24 in 2008, according to the National Retail Federation.

So who is spending money?

 The government – that’s who.

 The federal budget deficit increased in June as spending surged and tax receipts sunk, pushing the total budget shortfall to over $1 trillion in the first 9 months of the fiscal year, according to a government report released Monday.

To put that in perspective: In the first nine months of 2008, the United States government was $285.9 billion in debt. For all of fiscal 2008, the government racked up a $454.8 billion shortfall.

 Is anyone saving money?

 Drivers are, when compared to last year anyway.

 Gas prices dropped 1.2-cents overnight to $2.517 - the 23rd straight day of declines.

 In the last 23 days, the average price has decreased 17.6 cents, or 6.53%. The average price of a gallon of gas is also down $1.597, or 38.8%, from the record high price of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, 2008.

 The highest gas prices are in Hawaii ($3.257). The cheapest are in Missouri ($2.268).