BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[U.S. Consumer Prices Unexpectedly Fall]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/02/19/u-s-consumer-prices-unexpectedly-fall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/02/19/u-s-consumer-prices-unexpectedly-fall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/02/19/u-s-consumer-prices-unexpectedly-fall/#commentsFiled under:

The Labor Department Friday morning injected data that some see as a ray of hope. U.S. core consumer prices dropped 0.1% in January. This figure takes food and energy out of the equation, so a full-on bear run may be quelled by the fact that adding food and energy into the equation results in a 0.2% gain.

The core CPI was dragged lower by costs for new vehicles, shelter and airline fares. Last January, core inflation increased 1.6%. But this drop may be just what the market needed after Dell's (DELL) lackluster results and the Federal Reserve's surprise rate hike late Thursday. The lack of inflationary pressures shown as seen by the decline in core CPI could quell some concerns about a possible broader Fed rate hike.

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U.S. Consumer Prices Unexpectedly Fall originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CPIeconomic dataEconomicDataenergy costsEnergyCostsfinancial crisisFinancialCrisisinflationinthenewsFri, 19 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Oil up $11 to $138 -- $200 a barrel this summer?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/06/oil-up-11-to-138-200-a-barrel-this-summer/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/06/oil-up-11-to-138-200-a-barrel-this-summer/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/06/oil-up-11-to-138-200-a-barrel-this-summer/#commentsFiled under:

CNNMoney reports that oil closed up a record $11 a barrel today -- closing at $138. Can $200 a barrel be far off?

As I posted, this record price spike could have something to do with speculators' fear that they will no longer be able to take advantage of the swaps loophole the gives them unlimited ability to control the oil market. Perhaps rumors that regulators will close the loophole are scaring speculators to buy up as much oil as they can before the loophole closes.

Or it could be a plunge in the dollar. As I posted, the European central banks are talking about raising interest rates further to fight inflation. But the Fed is only talking about inflation and not doing anything about it. The dollar has lost 70% of its value since January 2001. With oil trading in dollars, it's taking more and more of them to buy a barrel of oil.

Continue reading Oil up $11 to $138 -- $200 a barrel this summer?

Oil up $11 to $138 -- $200 a barrel this summer? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>energy costsEnergyCostshalliburtonoilFri, 06 Jun 2008 16:10:00 EST<![CDATA[January PPI surges, possibly constraining the Fed's move]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/02/26/january-ppi-surges-possibly-constraining-the-feds-move/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/02/26/january-ppi-surges-possibly-constraining-the-feds-move/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/02/26/january-ppi-surges-possibly-constraining-the-feds-move/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The U.S. Labor Department announced Tuesday producer prices surged 1.0% in January 2008 on energy costs, well above the 0.3% consensus estimate.

Meanwhile, the core PPI rate, which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.4%, also well above the 0.2% estimate.

The 1% January 2008 PPI increase follows a 0.3% increase in December 2007.

Economist Steve Affinito told BloggingStocks Tuesday the January PPI stat is going to make it very rough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to maintain low interest rates for a long period of time.

Fed won't be pleased

"Wow! This number is hot, really above what we expected," Affinito said. "This almost guarantees that the Fed will be raising interest rates in a year about as fast as they lowered them this year. We have accelerating inflation at the wholesale level, so expect the Fed to clamp down on these inflationary pressures at the first sign they believe the economy is growing."

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January PPI surges, possibly constraining the Fed's move originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>energy costsEnergyCostsfeaturedinflationoilPPIU.S. Federal ReserveU.s.FederalReserveTue, 26 Feb 2008 09:11:00 EST<![CDATA[FedEx & UPS are not celebrating Bernanke's worried rate cuts - should you?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/fedex-and-ups-are-not-celebrating-bernankes-worried-rate-cuts-s/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/fedex-and-ups-are-not-celebrating-bernankes-worried-rate-cuts-s/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/fedex-and-ups-are-not-celebrating-bernankes-worried-rate-cuts-s/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Wall Street and its scoreboard stock exchanges are jubilant with the 0.5% cut in the prime rate. But all is not well. As expected, gold and oil hit record highs on the news yesterday and the sky's the limit. The dollar will be losing value and foreign investors will be buying increasing amounts of our equities, including land, buildings, public and private companies. Expect American ownership to decrease.

The fact that the Federal Reserve sought to pacify investment bankers and individuals who made bad deals in an effort to shore up what was starting to look like big trouble in the "heartland" is not, I think, worthy of celebration. Yes, we should be grateful that Ben Bernanke and crew are keeping a watchful eye on the pulse of the economy and did not wait until we drowned to throw in a lifeline. But for this conservative group to make the cut they had to think things were bad, and that is not exactly heartening news.

Transportation stocks are not doing well this morning, and neither are delivery companies. FedEx Corp (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) are showing losses or treading water, even though the overall market is notably up. Why? Fuel costs.

Continue reading FedEx & UPS are not celebrating Bernanke's worried rate cuts - should you?

FedEx & UPS are not celebrating Bernanke's worried rate cuts - should you? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Ben BernankeBenBernankeconsumer spendingConsumerSpendingenergy costsEnergyCostsFederal Reservefederal spendingFederalReserveFederalSpendingFedEx Corp (FDX)FedexCorp(fdx)Interest ratesInterestRatesinthenewsprime ratePrimeRateSheldon LiberSheldonLibertransportaionUnited Parcel'B' (UPS)UnitedParcel'b'(ups)Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:20:00 EST