The metals rally – especially in copper – came alongside indicators of ongoing inflation. Meanwhile confidence continues to collapse. Deservedly so. But one dividend: the truth continues to emerge, as ancient frauds (vaxes against infection/transmission of respiratory viruses just can’t work) are revealed for all to see.
by Dave Fairtex
Chris Martenson’s Peak Prosperity
There were four major reports this week: the CPI (Tuesday), PPI + Retail Sales (Thursday), and Industrial Production (Friday). CPI showed inflation – the Fed-and-MSM-baffling (worker-shortage-induced) “services inflation.” PPI inflation is also starting to pick up once again, while retail sales remain strong. Industrial production is flat, but down from the highs. More buying, higher prices, more expensive labor, but flat production.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation, February: Inflation Saga far from Over, Core CPI & Core Services in Ominous 6-Month Trend (source – wolfstreet);
Great details from Wolf. Cherry-picking, month-over-month changes, and multiplying by 12 to annualize. Try to avoid heart failure for some of these items:
One-year yield rose to 5.05%, highest since December 12.
During an interview with CBS’s “The Takeout” podcast that took place before the release of the February inflation numbers that showed a drop in real wages from January to February, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su acknowledged that wages have not kept up with inflation since President Joe Biden’s first full month in office back in February 2021. And that President Joe Biden’s response to those who said, “you can’t put too much money out into people’s pockets, that’s going to be a bad thing,” “was, no, I’d rather go too big than too small here. And that has paid off beautifully, in terms of the recovery.” And that Biden responded to those who thought the spending in the American Rescue Plan was too much by taking the approach that “there’s no such thing as too much” “good for the American worker.”
Who would have thought, in an investing world where the techiest people who built the high tech that both ran and drove the stock market explosively, that it would be laid-off tech employees who express a “sense of impending doom” over job cuts? The answer to that would be anyone who lived through the dot-com bust at an age that was paying attention. And that’s where we are today, according to a story about the sad faces of techies, who face the highest layoffs since 2001.
BEIJING — Stocks fell in early trading and moved further away from a record high set earlier this week. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7%. Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. Adobe slumped after giving investors a weak revenue forecast. Investors are closing out a week of heavy economic reports that showed inflation, though broadly cooling, remains hotter than expected. The reports have raised concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates, though Wall Street still sees potential for a cut in June.
Troublesomely high inflation rates may have an overlooked metric at their source: soaring insurance costs. But don’t take our word for it, just listen to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Daniel Hornung stated that “our progress on inflation does continue,” but “we’ve expected some seasonality in January and February. We didn’t expect the progress to continue on a straight line.”
Thanks to record tax receipts, the January budget deficit was “only” $21.93 billion in January.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that inflation could face a bumpy return to normal after back-to-back reports showed that price pressures within the U.S. economy rebounded at the start of the year.
Fox News hit the beaches of Fort Lauderdale this week to informally poll Gen. Z Spring Break revelers, asking what they think of Joe Biden’s disastrous economy and the upcoming election.
Another inflation wave is underway, and the Fed will have to decide whether to cut rates into inflation.