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Top Federal Reserve Official Warns Progress On Taming U.S. Inflation ‘May Be Stalling’
Governor Christopher Waller says he still supports a December interest rate cut barring a surprise in the economic data
by Colby Smith
FT
Christopher Waller, a Fed governor who sits on the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, on Monday said he backed the central bank lowering rates at its December 17-18 meeting. He said still-elevated borrowing costs were curbing demand across the world’s biggest economy, contributing to easing price pressures.
Still, Waller noted that “if the data we receive between today and the next meeting surprise in a way that suggests our forecasts of slowing inflation and a moderating but still-solid economy are wrong, then I will be supportive of holding the policy rate [unchanged in December]”.
Smith & Wesson Stock Sinks as it Says Inflation is Hurting Firearms Sales
Smith & Wesson reported a decline in second-quarter adjusted net income as demand for firearms was slowed by inflation.
by Bill McColl
Investopedia
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Smith & Wesson Brands (SWBI) shares plunged nearly 20% Friday, a day after it warned that inflation was reducing firearm sales and lowered its guidance.
The gunmaker reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted net income of $4.8 million, or $0.11 per share, down from $6.5 million, or $0.14 per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 3.8% year-over-year to $129.7 million.1
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Smith said the results “came in below our expectations as overall demand for firearms normalized late in the quarter,” and that the main reason for that “continued to be inflation.” Smith added that “the consumer cautiousness with discretionary spend that we observed in recent quarters was more pronounced during the second quarter than we anticipated.”
Inflation Isn’t Dead Yet. How to Protect Your Retirement Income.
Rising prices are here to stay. Use these investments to beat the inflation trap.
by Elizabeth O’Brien
Barron’s
It’s a valid concern. While the Consumer Price Index is down to 2.6%—from a peak of 9% in 2022—inflation may prove tough to keep at bay. Whether President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will reignite price gains remains to be seen. Either way, investors should inflation-proof their portfolios to bolster retirement income.
“It’s not just a bump in the road or a blip,” says Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy for Huntington Private Bank in North Canton, Ohio. “It’s something you need to plan for.”
Don’t Blame Biden for Inflation. Blame the Climate
Inflation was a defining issue in the presidential election. Here’s how climate change is making everything more expensive.
[Ed. Note: Yeah… ok.]
from Grist
Angela Bishop has been struggling with what she describes as “the cost of everything lately.” Groceries are one stressor, although she gets some reprieve from the free school lunches her four kids receive. Still, a few years of the stubbornly high cost of gas, utilities, and clothing have been pain points.
“We’ve just seen the prices before our eyes just skyrocket,” said Bishop, who is 39. She moved her family to Richmond, Virginia, from California a few years ago to stop “living paycheck to paycheck,” but things have been so difficult lately she’s worried it won’t be long before they are once again barely getting by.
Market Shifts Focus to Inflation From Labor Market After Jobs Print
by Naomi Buchanan
Yahoo! Finance
The market (^DJI,^GSPC, ^IXIC) digests the November jobs report which showed 227,000 jobs added, compared to 220,000 jobs expected, while unemployment rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in October.
Yahoo Finance Markets Reporter Josh Schafer sits down with Seana Smith and Madison Mills on Morning Brief to discuss what the data means for US stocks ahead of the new year and President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here.
Holidays Meals and Inflation: What’s the Latest On Prices at the Grocery Store?
by Alexander Coolidge
Cincinnati.com
As Americans begin preparing their holiday favorites through the end of the year, inflation at the supermarket has eased to the point where at least one item is cheaper than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic: tomatoes. A pound of tomatoes averages $1.98 nationwide and is 2.8% cheaper than in March of 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks inflation. Still, everything else in the store (out of more than 100 closely-tracked and seasonally-adjusted food items) is more expensive. On average food purchased for consumption at home is 25.5% more expensive than when the pandemic broke out – outpacing overall inflation of 22.2% in the same time period.
Chipotle Says It’s Raising Prices 2% in Response to Inflation
Traffic at the burrito eatery continues to be steady, according to an analyst report.
by Rob Wile
NBC News
Chipotle said it’s raising its menu prices by 2%, a rare direct admission about the impact that ongoing price increases in the economy are having on its finances.
“For the first time in over a year, we have taken a modest price increase of approximately 2% nationally to offset inflation,” Laurie Schalow, Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
The comment came, in part, as a response to an analyst report by Truist Securities financial group that observed the 2% increase at 20% of Chipotle locations surveyed.
Chipotle is in a period of transition after the exit of CEO Brian Niccol, who was poached by Starbucks in August. Shares of Chipotle dropped on the news of Niccol’s departure but have since climbed 23%, and are up about 42% year to date.
The Positive Flipside of Rampant Inflation
The biggest debt reduction scheme in history?
by Robin Wigglesworth
FT
The Institute for International Finance has released its latest global debt monitor, which shows that the ratio of global debt to GDP fell from a post-Covid peak of 357 per cent in 2021 to 327 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2024.
This is a 30 percentage point reduction in global debt-to-GDP in just four years. Admittedly that only takes us back to the 2019 level, but highly leveraged beggars can’t be choosers.
The reduction is mostly because nominal GDP has been growing a lot faster — thanks largely to inflation — than governments, companies and people can borrow.
Walmart CEO Predicts Grocery Inflation Will Continue in Early 2025
The retailer also aims to grow sign-ups for Walmart+ after initially downplaying the membership program, Doug McMillon said at a Morgan Stanley event.
by Catherine Douglas Moran
Grocery Dive
With 2025 just a few weeks away, Walmart’s top executive expects food price inflation won’t budge from around its current level at the start of the new year — instead of ticking down, as consumers have hoped.
“I don’t know what the whole year is going to look like. I hope and I think it could be better as these commodities adjust — some of them,” Doug McMillon, the retailer’s president and CEO, said Tuesday during the 2024 Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference.
McMillon said he is “disappointed” at where food inflation currently sits, highlighting that eggs and dairy are the main drivers. Customers have been upset that food prices are currently “a lot higher” than before the pandemic, McMillon said, noting that Walmart has invested in rollbacks to lower prices. Food-at-home prices have jumped 25% compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to FMI – The Food Industry Association.
There’s ‘Significant Risk’ if Inflation ‘Plateaus’ Above the Target
by Seana Smith and Madison Mills
Yahoo! Finance
Economic activity in the services sector fell in November from its October levels, according to the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Services economic activity remains expansionary despite the month-over-month dip. Natixis CIB Americas chief US economist Christopher Hodge joins Seana Smith and Madison Mills on Catalysts to break down the data and what it signals about the US economy.
“This number is a little bit lower than it was a month prior and a little bit lower than what was forecast, but this is still an expansionary territory,” Hodge says, adding, “This mirrors the economy overall.”
“The higher print for the price is paid, that should be a little bit concerning to the Fed because that does confirm a theme that we’ve seen over the past few months of progress on inflation stagnating a bit,” he notes.