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CPI

Pricing Pressure Building within the Depths of the PPI

Rising producer prices eventually translate into higher consumer prices as businesses are forced to pass on a portion if not all of the price increments to their customers.  So what you might be asking, this morning’s PPI indicated that producer prices fell -0.1% on a monthly basis. While this is true the PPI is broken […]

China’s Tightening Tool Box…

The wheels of tightening may be gaining momentum in China, after February’s higher than anticipated inflation release.  High inflation leading to negative real deposit rates may entice investors to withdraw deposits and invest in more speculative assets, potentially spurring what is arguably already a bubble in the country’s housing sector.  I believe that China has […]

IP, CPI, & the NY Fed Survey

December’s Industrial Production rose +0.6%, inline with a Bloomberg consensus forecast of +0.6%. November’s release was revised to +0.8% to +0.6%.  December’s reading was almost entirely due to a 5.9% jump in utilities stemming from extremely cold weather around the country. The index’s manufacturing component actually fell -0.1% during the month, while mining output rose […]

US Economics Week Ahead: Retail Sales & The Start of Earnings

With employment out of the way—for now—onto earnings; Alcoa is scheduled to kick of the 4Q09 earnings season with its report on Monday.  Earnings might be stealing most of the show this week, but don’t count out economic data with the release of a critically important retail sales release on Thursday and a torrent of […]

Housing Pains & Inflation Creep

October’s Housing Starts disappointed the market finishing at an annual rate of 529,000 (-10.6%), while September’s release was revised up to 592K from 590K. Permit’s in October declined -4.0%, to 552K. Single-family starts fell -6.8%, while multi-family homes plummeted by -34.6%. The Bloomberg consensus forecast was for starts at 600K, with forecasts ranging from 570K […]

US Economics Week Ahead: Retail Sales will set the Pace

The last full week in November brings with it its fair share of economic data, Fed talk, and a few important earnings stragglers.  The general themes of the week will be housing, manufacturing, inflation, and the consumer.  On the economic front, October’s retail sales—released on Monday—should steal the show, followed up by October’s industrial production […]

CPI Up +0.4, Core-CPI Up +0.1%

August’s CPI and Core-CPI were up +0.4% and +0.1%, respectively.  This compares to a consensus estimate of +0.4% for the headline and +0.1% for the core number.  August’s headline number faced some pressure from increasing fuel costs (+4.6%) during the month that were partially offset by a much smaller increase in food prices.  The pricing […]