Rising Oil Prices Could Pose the Latest Threat to the Economy

Rising Oil Prices Could Pose the Latest Threat to the Economy Oil prices have surged by over 17% since late June, causing transportation costs for both consumers and businesses to rise and unsettling financial markets. On September 27, West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil price benchmark, surpassed $93 per barrel, reaching its highest point […]
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Under My Thumb

Under My Thumb Fed meetings usually focus on the change in current interest rates, but this week the focus was on 2024. Current rates were left unchanged, but the Fed doubled down on the ‘higher (rates) for longer’ theme. Chair Powell repeated at least a dozen times that the Fed will “proceed carefully” from here, […]
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Open Door Policy

Open Door Policy China’s Zero-Covid policy could not last forever, but the suddenness of the reversal was unexpected. China’s doors are opened once again. The initial reaction is one of optimism for global economic growth, but hurdles remain. If we have learned anything about Covid, it is that once released, it spreads quickly. The Lunar […]
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Is Energy Inflation Tamed? | September 10, 2022

Is Energy Inflation Tamed? Spot WTI crude prices are down about 29% from the Ukraine Invasion peak back in March. Retail gasoline prices have come down about 25% from the peak earlier this year and diesel prices are down almost 13% from the peak. Those are all very meaningful declines, but all three are still […]
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Economy Killers? | June 11, 2022

Economy Killers? The CPI report for May was released on Friday and it showed that headline inflation rose 8.6% from May of last year, compared with 8.3% in April. Core inflation, that is, excluding food and energy, rose at 6.0% from last year, compared with 6.2% in April. This was a little higher than expectations […]
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Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way | June 4, 2022

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way Through history, leadership is enduring. Great leaders are always great leaders. But markets are different; leadership changes with regularity. What leads markets on the way up, typically leads on the way down too, but it doesn’t lead the next leg up. A common mistake investors make is […]
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Even A Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day | May 7, 2022

Even A Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day While central bankers are very smart, they are far from infallible. Throughout the history of central banks, policy errors are common. The choice central banks are making now is between focusing on core inflation (excluding food and energy). This allows food and energy inflation to run […]
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