Overview: Today, we got the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.7% for the last year and up 0.2% for the month (annualizes to 2.4%). The annual number is flat from June and 0.1% below expectations. The monthly is up 0.2% and consistent with expectations. The Core CPI which … Read more
The Federal Reserve: The Federal Reserve concluded its July meeting and to the surprise of no one, left interest rates unchanged. I think it was the right move. The economy seems to be doing well-enough and inflation remains above the 2% target (which I continue to insist is 2% too high). DKI has been outspoken … Read more
Overview: Today, we got the June Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.7% for the last year and up 0.3% for the month (annualizes to 3.7%). The annual number is up 0.3% from May and 0.1% above expectations. The monthly is up 0.2% and consistent with expectations. The Core CPI … Read more
Overview: Today, we got the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.4% for the last year and up 0.1% for the month. The annual number is up 0.1% from April and in line with expectations. The monthly is down 0.1% and below expectations. The Core CPI which excludes food … Read more
The new CPI was a win for the disinflation crowd as the all-items inflation metric falls to 2.3%. On the other hand, we’ve been above the 2% target for 50 straight months, and I think the target is 2% too high. The market celebrated a temporary tariff truce with China as both sides agree to … Read more
Overview: Today, we got the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.3% for the last year and up 0.2% for the month. Those are both 0.1% below expectations. The 0.2% monthly increase reverses last month’s -0.1% deflation figure. The Core CPI which excludes food and energy was up 2.8% … Read more
Overview: Today, we got the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.4% for the last year and -0.1% for the month. That’s a big decrease from last month’s 2.8%, below expectations of 2.5%, and the monthly number represents deflation. Small deflation, but it’s in the right direction. The Core … Read more
The Federal Reserve concluded its March meeting and surprised no one by keeping the fed funds rate unchanged. Let’s go through the details: As I type this, Jerome Powell is delivering his prepared remarks at his press conference and reiterated his typical language of being “data driven”. He’s also talking about a higher-than-usual level … Read more
Overview: Today, we got the February Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed an overall increase of 2.8% for the last year and 0.2% for the month (annualizes to 2.4%). That’s below last month’s 3.0% and above the prior month’s 2.9%. Both the annual number and the monthly were 0.1% below expectations. The monthly was … Read more
The Federal Reserve will conclude its first meeting of 2025 later today, and Chairman Powell will hold his usual afternoon press conference. Some market observers are describing this as the least suspenseful meeting of the past three years, and I agree with them. The current consensus (almost 100%) opinion is that the Fed will leave … Read more
