MB:
There's no such thing as bad news...we're all out to lunch on this thread. PPI expected +0.4%, actual +0.5%...but the focus is on the rigged wholesale prices -0.1%.
They must give a heavy weighting to auto/truck sales, because everything else seemed to be up. August car prices -0.1%, Trucks -0.4%. "Gee, vehicles ASP down in August before the new models come out, we'll give that the heaviest weight." Clinton's economist must have said.
But energy prices, the most pervasive commodity regarding pricing...well, that's up a little, +1.1% for retail electricity and natural gas, and only 9.1% for gasoline...but nobody really uses those things...besides, "gasoline prices are expected to moderate." Crude is expected to possibly go as high as $27.00, that will be modified at the retail level by decreased travel after summer, but I don't see it actually dropping at the pump - just not increasing as fast.
biz.yahoo.com
So if energy prices remain the same, and wholesale prices are going down...that's good for the market? Seems to me that should put a squeeze on profits...except, just maybe, the gov't figures on wholesale prices aren't as accurate a reflection of reality as they'd like us to believe.
Did you watch the volatility in the SPZ9? Fun to watch, but I'm keeping my powder dry until I think I see things settle down, and a trend emerge. I watched the ESZ9 fluctuate by about 25 points within about 25 seconds...makes me wonder how the participants got their money, or maybe more to the point - how they keep it. |
