from Styxhexenhammer666
Stagflation Begins
by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
Nine of the 12 Federal Reserve districts reported a decline in economic activity in August, up five districts from the July Beige Book report. Our system has warned that we are entering a period of stagflation, where inflation remains high but GDP declines. Now, the Fed is reporting that two-thirds of the US economy is experiencing “flat or declining activity.”
The US economy advanced 3% during the last quarter, leading many to believe that the economy is recovering since Q2 posted a measly 1.4% advancement. Consumer spending, amounting to 70% of GDP, rose 2.9% last quarter as well, but people are spending on essentials. They fail to calculate TAXES into the equation when producing these reports and then dismiss essentials such as food and shelter as “volatile” aspects that somehow are not factored in the core figures.
Gold Holds Firm Above $2,500 Level as U.S. Inflation Data Looms
by Anushree Ashish Mukherjee
Reuters.com
Sept 10 (Reuters) – Gold prices held firm above the $2,500 level on Tuesday as market participants positioned themselves ahead of U.S. inflation data for further clues on the depth of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve next week.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,512.38 per ounce by 14:03 p.m. ET (1803 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $2,543.1.
“Gold prices are trading in an extremely tight range, waiting for the next catalyst, which are likely to be both the U.S. presidential debate tonight, followed shortly by inflation data tomorrow,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.
Bond Market Sees Risk of Inflation Falling Below Fed Target
by Ye Xie and Liz Capo McCormick
BNN Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) — Two years into the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation, bond investors are seeing a new risk: Consumer price growth is slowing too much.
A day ahead of the August inflation report, one gauge of expectations of consumer price index increases is showing that the inflation rate is in danger of falling below the Fed’s target. The central bank has long argued that persistently low inflation is as detrimental to the economy as elevated prices because it would force policymakers to keep borrowing costs too low for too long, reducing the Fed’s ability to fight off economic downturns.
“Market participants are sensing that the inflationary surge is now fully over, and there’s some chance here now, with the balance of risk being shifted to the employment mandate, that the Fed undershoots its inflation target,” said Tim Duy, chief US economist at SGH Macro Advisors. “You do have to take those risks fairly seriously.”
Biden Admits Inflation Reduction Act Was Never Intended to Reduce Inflation
by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
PSA: Joe Biden is still the president of the United States. Biden has been hiding on a beach in Delaware ever since his disastrous debate with Donald Trump that hard-launched Kamala Harris as the Democrat nominee. Biden is speaking off the prompter once again and revealing hard truths that have been concealed from the public. The Inflation Reduction Act, the largest spending measure in American history, was never intended to reduce inflation.
“We should have named it what it was!” Biden said at an event in Westby, Wisconsin, where he unsuccessfully attempted to tout the success of Bidenomics. The president referred to the Inflation Reduction Act as “the most significant CLIMATE CHANGE LAW ever,” adding, “by the way, it is a $369 billion bill, it’s called the–we we we should’ve named it what it was.”
Second Inflationary Wave Waiting To Be Unleashed as the Fed Cuts Rates…
from King World News
A second coming inflationary wave is waiting to be unleashed as the Fed cuts rates…
2nd Inflationary Wave
September 9 (King World News) – Graddhy out of Sweden: Very big picture silver and sugar move similarly. And with silver’s huge breakout, sugar should be close behind. Sugar now has perfect 50% retrace.
Another chart showing that the 2nd inflationary wave should start soon. Get prepared.
What to Expect from Wednesday’s Closely Watched Report On Inflation
Federal Reserve Officials Will Scrutinize the Data as They Consider Cutting Interest Rates
by Diccon Hyatt
Investopedia
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Household budgets likely got a welcome break in August, with prices falling or staying flat for important items including food and gas, if forecasts of an upcoming inflation report are correct.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report Wednesday should show prices rose 2.6% over the year through August, down from a 2.9% annual increase in July, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Falling prices for gas and stable prices for food likely helped keep overall inflation in check, several economists said. If the prediction holds, the annual inflation rate would be a fresh low since March 2021.
Are Greedy Companies to Blame for Grocery Inflation? We Looked at the Data.
by Alina Selyukh
NPR
Are greedy corporations to blame for inflation?
Ariane Navarro thinks so. She recently pulled up her budgeting spreadsheets from 2021 and was shocked by how much her family’s grocery bill has skyrocketed.
She’s not imagining it: From February 2020 to this July, grocery prices grew a cumulative 25.6%. That’s higher than overall inflation, which was 21.6% during that same period.
“We have no other choice — we have to buy groceries,” says Navarro, who lives in Houston. “That’s a basic need. And so [companies] use that to kind of take advantage and keep raising prices.”
Gold Prices Steady with Spotlight On U.S. Inflation Data
by Anushree Ashish Mukherjee
Reuters.com
Sept 9 (Reuters) – Gold prices held their ground on Monday, as investors awaited the U.S. inflation report for further clues on the potential size of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut.
Spot gold was little changed at $2,499.79 per ounce by 1:54 p.m. ET (1754 GMT).
U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $2,532.70.
Bullion “will probably be fairly consolidated, perhaps a little bit choppy in the established range in gold,” said Peter A. Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals, who expects gold to hit all-time highs.
It’s Not the Fed That’s Causing Inflation
by James T. Moodey
American Thinker
Inflation causes poverty, and the poor have no defense. Kamala Harris said inflation was caused by the COVID crisis. More recently, she said it is caused by greedy retailers. No, Kamala — it was caused by you and Joe, and no one else.
We are letting her off the hook for two reasons: by allowing the use of a bogus inflation chart and by blaming the money supply rather than her as the direct cause of inflation.
In their first week in January 2021, Joe and Kamala cut off every source of oil within their jurisdiction. In the very next month, three things happened: our domestic production of oil plunged from 13.1 million barrels per day to 9.7, oil prices doubled from $55 to $110 per barrel, and the monthly inflation rate leaped from 1.4 percent to 9.6 percent.
The red-herring inflation chart they offer shows inflation peaking six months later, which distracts from the fact that their action was the sole cause of inflation. It is a “trailing average” chart.
$36 Trillion ‘By the End of 2024’ – Elon Musk Backs Serious U.S. Dollar Inflation Warning That’s Predicted to Cause an ‘Inevitable’ Bitcoin Price Crash
by Billy Bambrough
Forbes
Elon Musk, the mercurial billionaire whose fickle interest in bitcoin has waned since 2021, is stoking fears the U.S. dollar could be heading for a $36 trillion disaster.
The bitcoin price has swung wildly over the last month, bouncing between highs of $65,000 per bitcoin before crashing toward $50,000 as a legendary bitcoin trader suddenly flips his bitcoin price prediction.
Now, as details of Donald Trump’s mystery crypto project trickle out, Musk has backed a $36 trillion “by the end of 2024” warning over the spiraling interest payments on the huge U.S. national debt pile.