CPI came in much hotter than expected. Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida actually said, “We were surprised by higher than expected inflation data.” But should we really be surprised by this? In this episode, Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey talks about inflation and suggests maybe you shouldn’t be shocked. He also discusses the whacked-out labor market.
The US government ran another huge budget deficit in April. The shortfall came in at $225.58 billion, running the total budget deficit through the first seven months of fiscal 2021 to a record $1.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s Monthly Treasury Statement.
That compares with a $1.5 trillion deficit through the first seven months of fiscal 2020, which included the first round of stimulus checks in April 2020.
The consumer price index (CPI) came in much hotter than expected. The consensus was for a 0.2% month-to-month increase in price inflation. The actual number was 0.8%. It was the biggest monthly gain in CPI since 1981. Annualized, CPI measured 4.2% – more than double the mythical Federal Reserve target of 2%.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said, “We were surprised by higher than expected inflation data.”
In his podcast, Peter Schiff said the only reason investors and economists were surprised is because they’re clueless.
Gold demand in the technology sector was up 11% year-on-year, coming in at 81.2 tons in the first quarter of 2021.
According to the World Gold Council, the strong growth was partially due to comparison with relatively weak tech demand in the first quarter of 2020, as governments began shutting down economies in response to the coronavirus. But comparisons with Q1 2019 and Q1 2018 suggest that demand has recovered quite quickly and is now at more typical Q1 levels.
America’s labor market is a mess and riddled with incongruency.
On the one hand, businesses can’t find workers. Help wanted signs hang in windows across the country. A McDonald’s franchisee in Tampa is offering bonuses just for showing up for an interview.
Meanwhile, unemployment just ticked up to 6.1%.
In what kind of world does this make sense?
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell insists inflation is “transitory.” As prices have spiked throughout the economy, Powell’s messaging has essentially been, “Move along. Nothing to see here.”
Peter Schiff has been saying the central bankers at the Fed can’t actually tell the truth about inflation because even if they acknowledge it’s a problem (and it is) they can’t do anything about it.
In a recent talk, Jim Grant, investment guru and founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, echoed Peter, saying the Fed can’t control inflation.
Americans consume goods other people produce. As America offshored its manufacturing, it promised to supply the world with high-priced services and technology in exchange. But as it turns out, that promise never materialized.
The ballooning overall trade deficit bears this out. It leaped to another record high in March, surging 5.6% month-on-month to a new worst-ever $74.5 billion. That was 52% worse than in March 2019.
Central banks globally added a net 79.5 tons of gold to their reserves in March, led by a major purchase by Hungary, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council.
Everybody expected the jobs report last Friday to show a big increase in employment. It didn’t happen.
Instead of the 978,000 new jobs created in April that economists expected, nonfarm payroll increased by just 266,000. On top of that, the Labor Department revised the March number down from 916,000 to 770,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1%.
As Peter Schiff put it in his podcast, you don’t need a job to spend printed money handed out by the government.
If you are a regular Fun on Friday reader, you know I love sports. Hockey is my favorite followed by football. My favorite teams are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, all of those worlds collided in a moment of sports harmony this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski joined Lightning players at their practice. Gronk even donned the goalie pads. (He showed a pretty solid glove hand.)
Gronkowski even brought along the Lombardi Trophy. Lightning players posed for pictures with the Super Bowl hardware.
