Yesterday was the laughable PPI joke. Today we have the Consumer Price Index. Here is the chart from the BLS showing ZERO inflation in January, after ZERO inflation in December, and DEFLATION in November. Does that match what you see in the real world?
Now for the most ridiculous example of government propaganda ever published. According the drones at the BLS gasoline prices fell 3.0% in January after falling 1.9% in December. So, according to your beloved government scumbag data manipulators gasoline prices have fallen 4.9% in the last two months. Have you stopped by a gas station in the last two months? The chart below the BLS Bullshit chart shows that gasoline prices on January 1 were $3.27 per gallon. On January 31 gasoline prices were $3.40 per gallon. For the math challenged, gasoline prices rose 4.0% in January for people who actually fill up their gas tanks. They have risen another 9.7% in the 1st 21 days of February. I can’t wait to see how much the BLS says gas prices dropped in February.
The MSM will dutifully report this drivel to the ignorant masses without question, because it is their duty. There is no inflation because the government says so.
Administrator says:
Government says gas prices are decreasing. Wal-Mart says they are increasing. Hmm. Who should I believe?
“We are confident that our low prices will continue to resonate, as families adjust to a reduced paycheck and increased gas prices,” Simon said. “We see the underlying health of the Walmart U.S. business is sound, and sales trends are similar to what we’ve demonstrated in the last few quarters. However, February sales started slower than planned, due in large part, to the delay in income tax refunds. We began seeing increased tax refund check activity late last week in our stores, resulting in a more normalized weekly sales pattern for this time of the year. Due to the slower sales rate in the first few weeks of this year’s first quarter, we are forecasting comp sales for the 13-week period from Jan. 26 to Apr. 26, 2013 to be around flat. We continue to monitor economic conditions that can impact our sales, such as rising fuel prices, changes in inflation and the payroll tax increase.”
Wal-Mart CEO
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21st February 2013 at 9:44 am
Administrator says:
Food prices also didn’t increase in January according to the BLS drones. Anyone else out there go grocery shopping lately? If they reduce the amount of food in the packages any more, we’ll be buying air.
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21st February 2013 at 9:46 am
Eddie says:
So people need a tax return to buy groceries at Walmart now. That’s a good sign.
BLS=Lying liars lying their lying asses off.
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21st February 2013 at 9:51 am
Administrator says:
Posted 2013-02-21 09:13
by Karl Denninger
CPI: Some Like It Hot(ter)
Well look at what we have here:
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.6 percent before seasonal adjustment.
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in January. This increase offset another decline in the gasoline index and resulted in the seasonally adjusted all items index being unchanged, as it was last month. Increases in the indexes for shelter and apparel accounted for much of the increase in the index for all items less food and energy, with advances in the indexes for recreation, medical care, and airline fares also contributing.
Oh oh.
That woud be a 3.66% annualized increase in core, which ought to perk up your ears.
Let’s have a look inside at annualized increases, as we did with the PPI.
The first thing that stands out is that the “target” is “achieved” at a 1.9% core rate annualized. But….
Shelter, particularly rent, is up closer to 3% while hospital services are up 4.7% and transportation is also up 3%, with insurance up nearly 5%. The latter is a big perverse effect of QE, in that insurance companies make a fair bit of their money off fixed-income investments. That’s dead, of course.
If you like to eat, eat lamb. It’s down 15% on the year.
Don’t eat apples. They’re up 11%. Fruits in general are up 4.6%, and vegetables 3.4%.
Electronics continued their dive, with TVs off 17% on the year. Americanus Boobus has his idiot box for another year at an ever-lower price.
Don’t go to college unless you want a textbook shoved up your butt. Their price is up 8% on the year, and the best part of it is that your professor is probably getting a piece of it. That smile on his face? It’s because he’s assaulting you coming and going.
Computers continue their inexorable decline, as do other consumer information items (e.g. cell phones, tablets, etc.) Bye-bye margins.
And don’t start this crap about how “health costs” have “leveled out.” The hell they have. Health insurance is up 8.6% annualized, damned close to the 9% escalation that has been maintained historically over the last 30 years. If you believe that it comprises only 0.658% of the total amount of money you spend as a consumer, which is what the government claims, then you’re dumber than a box of rocks.
Can’t afford a car and need to ride the bus? That’s up considerably more than the so-called “inflation index.” Oh, and that’s a laugable 0.264% of your budget too. Really, for those who actually use it?
Those are the lowlights — enjoy.
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21st February 2013 at 10:13 am
Eddie says:
So why is lamb cheaper?
Roughly one third of the lamb we eat comes from either NZ or Australia. Pretty much all of the lamb at places like Walmart and Sam’s and Costco is from foreign sources.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia, “Lamb and sheep prices improved during January, compared with the lows of November and December, but remain well below the levels of a year ago.”
And the US dollar is strong against the Aussie dollar, trading at near parity.
Get it while you can.
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21st February 2013 at 11:10 am
fool on the hill says:
Eddie:
Only if it comes with free BOOTS.
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21st February 2013 at 11:21 am
DaveL says:
“Eddie says:
So why is lamb cheaper?”
Poor Eddie…You’re eating LOW INFORMATION VOTERS. Price started dropping right after November 6 when they were no longer necessary, and in heavy surplus. Expect prices to spike up at the start of the 2014 Congressional election season.
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21st February 2013 at 11:30 am
card802 says:
The BLS is also revising unemployment numbers, up.
How many weeks in a row now have numbers been “revised?”
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21st February 2013 at 11:37 am
Eddie says:
I thought it was lamb…but it was really…..SHEEPLE!
Eeeeeewwwww!
Cue the theme from Twilight Zone.
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21st February 2013 at 11:41 am
Hollow man says:
I got it! They have become so filled with lie they believe what they say is correct. Something like God.
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21st February 2013 at 11:47 am
DaveL says:
For you Jim. You can figure it out.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/651357.pdf
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21st February 2013 at 12:08 pm
BUCKHED says:
Can’t wait til’ Soylent Green makes the CPI List
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21st February 2013 at 12:13 pm
BUCKHED says:
Hmmm…just thinking..maybe GMO food IS Soylent Green !
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21st February 2013 at 12:14 pm
beast rudolpho says:
DaveL>
not to up the Admin, just a quick peruse and ‘net assets’ search gave a chuckle on p. 130 said “As of September 30, 2012, and 2011, the TSP held $329.2 billion and $281.6 billion, respectively, in net
assets, which included $153.9 billion and $139.3 billion, respectively, of U.S. Government Securities (amounts are unaudited).” TSP is the “Thrift Savings Plan”regading Indian Tribal and individual Indian Trust Funds, which are administered by the DOI. key phrase is “amounts are unaudited”
b.r.
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21st February 2013 at 12:34 pm
Stucky says:
Once in a while I watch Cheaters — that TV show about spouses hiring a detective agency to see if their hubbies/hubettes are fuckin’ around. It’s always good for a laugh.
So, I’m watching it a couple days ago. Guy … let’s call him Dickface ,,, gets caught. Mrs. Dickface and the “detective” approach Dickface and accuse him. Dickface says they are both mistaken. Detective then shows actual video of Dickface kissing up and feeling up some skank-ho. Did I mention …. actual up-close and personal video? WHat does Dickface do? Deny, deny, deny. “No way! That ain’t me! I’m tellin’ ya … THAT AIN’T ME!!” Mrs Dickface then pulls skank-ho’s hair and spits on Dickface. It’s all pretty funny, I’m tellin’ ya.
That’s what the BLS has become. Mr. Dickface. Deny, deny, deny right in the very face of truth. It’s all pretty funny, I’m tellin’ ya.
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21st February 2013 at 12:56 pm
Administrator says:
DaveL
The report is 270 pages. I might need until 5:00 pm to analyze the whole thing.
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21st February 2013 at 2:10 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
Who would have guessed that Baghdad Bob was really onto something?
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21st February 2013 at 4:07 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
(my picture posting is an epic fail…)
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21st February 2013 at 4:08 pm
AWD says:
Your average Bureau of Lies and Scams employee
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21st February 2013 at 4:21 pm
Thinker says:
Jim. per your comment about packaging sizes getting smaller, that trend is over with. For the past couple of years, companies reduced package sizes slightly (2-5 oz) in order to keep the price stable. Due to the commodity and raw material costs you’ve documented here so well, it was the only way to make things seem “normal” and not scare people into hunkering down more than they did.
Well, they know that’s not possible now. Commodities and raw material prices have continued to escalate, esp. given last year’s drought, and fuel/transportation costs continue to grow. They know they can’t keep prices the same any longer — it’s already reduced their margins to bare-bones levels and they can’t cut further if they want to survive.
So, they’re doing what they can — producing VERY small product sizes that they can sell for even less. Look around next time you go to Walmart; there are bottles of shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, etc. for 97¢. In the food aisles, you’ll see soups sold not in cans, but bags. For $3, you get dried ingredients you can add a few quarts of water to and feed your family. You can buy cans of biscuits that hold just 4, instead of the usual 8. Pancake mix comes in single-use packages.
There are literally hundreds of products that are for one-time use and require the addition of only water. And they’re the best-selling things right now, but that’s where I have to stop.
Things are a LOT worse than the government and media let on. WM knows exactly what’s happening, because they’ve become the bread lines / soup kitchen of this recession/depression. And they’re starting to hurt, too.
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21st February 2013 at 5:28 pm
Administrator says:
Gasoline Prices Rise 34 Straight Days: Are Speculators to Blame? If Not, Who Is?
Given a two-day plunge in crude futures, gasoline prices may have hit a temporary peak.
Nonetheless, consumers feel the pinch as pump prices have risen 34 straight days. For only the fifth time in history Gas prices topped $4 a gallon in District of Columbia.
Nationwide, the price of a gallon of regular gasoline climbed to $3.78 a gallon, up 47 cents in the past month, the AAA said.
In parts of California, Gasoline Prices Topped $5.00 on February 5. CNN Money has an interactive Gas Price map to check prices in your state.
Republicans Cry Foul
Yahoo!News reports Politicians Cry Foul Over High Gas Prices, Urge Action on Keystone XL
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., posted a “Keystone Clock ” on his House Energy Committee’s website Wednesday. The chairman states more than 1,615 days have passed since TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal sought approval. Joining Upton’s call to build the pipeline is Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. Executives at TransCanada have tried a different tactic to try to get approval from the Obama administration by claiming the pipeline won’t affect global warming.
The tug of war between economics and environmentalism is escalating thanks to 34 straight days of rising gasoline prices.
Boehner posted a “Running on Empty ” graphic Tuesday. The Speaker of the House complains gas prices have “soared $0.43 since Jan. 17″ before remarking with his own Keystone clock, “How long will Americans have to wait?”
Boehner cites several sources, including nine Democratic senators, who want Obama to approve the project quickly. The pipeline may not see a decision until mid-June. Around 20,000 jobs and nearly a million barrels of oil a day are at stake for American oil companies.
Speculators to Blame?
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Spike in gasoline prices points to speculators
“Like locusts ravaging fertile crops, gasoline prices are soaring again and eating away at the purchasing power of ordinary Americans. And again, financial speculators appear to be a big part of the story.”
Refinery Closures
In Recovery Killer? Gas Prices Barrel Toward $4 a Gallon CNN notes refinery closures.
Five dollar a gallon gas “is a real possibility” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. “This is partly being driven by the lost refinery capacity of about one million barrels per day…that’s a lot.”
Kilduff cited Hess’s (HES) closure of a key refinery hub in Port Reading, New Jersey in January as a major factor that has sent gas on a tear. “Prices haven’t looked back since,” he said.
“It’s one of about eight refineries that have announced closure. Now the East Coast is heavily reliant on [gas] imports when it used to be self-sufficient,” Kilduff stated.
Speculation Nonsense
Refinery closures are one part of the puzzle. If speculators have driven up the price of oil (and that is debatable) it’s not the speculators who are to blame, but rather the Fed.
By providing massive liquidity and negative real interest rates, the Fed encouraged speculation in the stock market, in junk bonds, and in commodities.
I believe there is a bubble in all of those areas. The Fed’s intent was not to foster bubbles per se, but rather to stimulate housing and spur job creation. On the job creation front, the fed failed miserably, and bloated its balance sheet to over $3 trillion dollars in doing so.
Fed policies have destroyed those on fixed income for the benefit of the banks and wealthy, as I wrote on Wednesday in Reader Asks Me to Prove “Inflation Benefits the Wealthy” (At the Expense of Everyone Else).
The Bernanke Fed is so out of line that the House Subcommittee on Economic Growth Demands Answers From Bernanke on Fed’s Exit Strategy; Fed Must Reply by March 5
Yet the media blames those evil speculators. Get real.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/#5FSdBUxhwMhGh6MW.99
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21st February 2013 at 8:10 am