Black Gold

Today Mr. Ben Bernanke must be patting himself on the back for halting rate increases. Inflation data surely supports his stance. Mr. Bernanke is ahead of the curve and I guess from now onwards he will be getting the respect he deserves from the market.

However, my focus today is not on the Fed Chairman but on inflation itself. One thing that I've never been able to get is, does the rise in fuel and food costs not affect the common man on the street? If the answer is No, then why have the so-called "core consumer-price index" - which exactly excludes both. And it's by which the Fed bases its decisions on.

Puzzles me! Basic human costs are not considered to be "core"! So fuel prices might shoot thru the roof, but sorry there wont be any inflation and everybody's supposed to feel good about that... hhmmm interesting

Talking about fuel costs - if I were a major oil producer and currently enjoyin this boomtime and my citizens were flourishing, would I want the prices to come down? Wld I go out of my way to produce more? and for whom? haha the infidels?

Bigger Picture

It's hard enough to be back from holiday when you know you're not going to get a break for the rest of the year *Sigh* keeping in mind that fiscal year end is June!

But nothing can beat the feeling of being out of touch with the market... Where the f*** is it headed?

This morning's WSJ - The U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates steady yesterday for the first time in two years, gambling that a nascent economic slowdown will cap growing inflation pressures. ... ... Signs of slowing growth and rising inflation have aroused deep disagreements among economists on what the Fed should do. Some economists think the Fed already had raised rates too far and is courting recession; some think it must raise them further to stop inflation from accelerating.

M*****F***** I was expecting another hike!!!

So what does this mean? Markets will rally further? HSI up 298 pts to 17,346; Nikkei up 191 pts to 15,656 today!

But how do I read the potentially bigger picture - Oil up on worsening Middle East crisis; US - economic slowdown, rising inflation; China - shrinking margins; Japan - exports hurt on stronger Yen; Euro zone - falling domestic demand, worsening unemployment, rising euro;

Perhaps I'm getting anxious for no bloody reason - liquidity might still create magic in the meantime!