This week we are seeing the release of the latest round of US inflation numbers, with April’s Producer Price Index (PPI), released Tuesday, coming in at 0.5% as compared to the expected 0.3% and previous 0.2%. This put the year-over-year at 2.2% versus the previous 2.1%, igniting the usual debate in financial media over what the next move by the US Federal Open Market Committee will be with interest rates[i]. April’s Core PPI (PPI excluding energy and food) came in at 0.5% versus the expected 0.2%. It will be interesting to see what the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers come in at, with the pre-release average guess sitting at 0.4% and year-over-year (y/y) at 3.4%. Average guesses on the Core CPI were 0.3% and 3.6% (y/y). As usual, I get more entertainment than information from these government numbers, with the real story already in front of us in the form of a few…
