Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Systems, Strategies and Resources for Trading Futures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patrick Slevin who wrote (23143)	5/14/1999 8:42:00 AM
From: Chip McVickar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

Energy Costs Drive Up Wholesale Inflation By Caren Bohan Reuters WASHINGTON (May 13) - U.S. wholesale prices jumped in April as energy costs recorded their biggest rise since just before the Gulf War, the government said on Thursday, but analysts saw little cause for concern in the inflation outlook. The Producer Price Index, measuring prices paid to the nation's factories, farms and refineries, rose 0.5 percent last month after a 0.2 percent gain in March, the Labor Department said. Stripping out the volatile food and energy costs, the core PPI rose just 0.1 percent in April after a flat reading in the prior month. The numbers were in line with the expectations of private economists. U.S. economists in a Reuters survey had predicted a 0.6 percent rise in the PPI and a 0.1 percent increase excluding food and energy. Foreign stock markets rose on the data's release, with the London stock exchange extending its gains as traders saw the below-consensus PPI figure as allaying fears of an interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve. "When you look at the crude (prices), that is taking out energy and food, you clearly see there is no inflation," Anthony Chan, economist at Banc One Investment Advisors, told Reuters Television. The PPI is running at a year-on-year rate of 1.1 percent, the biggest 12-month rise since a 1.5 percent gain in the year to March 1997. Because energy prices were behind the latest gain in the PPI, many economists have said a blip higher in the index would not suggest a broad trend of rising inflation pressures at the wholesale level. In fact, inflation is still expected to remain tame, though it may not keep falling as it has been in recent years. Oil prices have zoomed higher because of a deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers to cut production in an effort to reduce the supply overhang. The energy component of the PPI climbed 5.1 percent, the largest increase since a 7.5 percent increase in October 1990, just before the start of the Gulf War. The surge follows a long decline in oil prices that began more than two years ago. Gasoline costs soared 29.1 percent last month, the largest rise on record. Heating oil costs were up 14.3 percent. In other components, food costs fell 0.9 percent in April. Passenger car costs edged up 0.2 percent, and prices of capital equipment were flat. Crude oil futures in New York hit $19.05 a barrel on May 5, the highest level since December 1997. ((Washington newsroom, +1 202 898-8310, fax +1 202 898-8383, washington.economic.newsroom@reuters.com))

To: Patrick Slevin who wrote (23143)	5/14/1999 8:56:00 AM
From: donald sew	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

Hi Patrick, >>>>> Judging by the way Globex is dropping I imagine the Inflation numbers were just peachy. <<<< Yeah, the dipsters will come in again but I think sooner than later the dipsters will get tired. What I fear is the possibility of a long drawn out downtrend where the HIGHs get lower and the LOWS get lower but slowly since everytime we dip the BULLs will say its a buying opportunity. Many dont realise it or they wont accept it, but for the last month on a averaging basis the overall market has not gone anywhere. The media is really putting too much emphasis on the DOW which has been up about 600 points but the NAZ/DOT have been down and the SPX slightly flat. When they can push the DOW up 100 points on the back of 1 stock Im not sure that is a sign of a great market. Dont get me wrong, if there is a nice pullback there will be a buying opportunity in certain areas but I do not think on a averaging perspective that the market will set significant new highs. The DOW may set new highs but at the expense of the NAZ. The recent rise in the DOW was mainly on the back of the cyclicals and basic materials, which only have a average daily volume of less than 2 million shares. Dell probably trades more on a daily basis than all the basic material stocks in the DOW(ALD,UK,IP,DD,ETC). So the question is did many really benefit with the DOW running up 600 points when the HiTechs and especially the internets sold off. seeya