Consumer prices fell more than expected last week. Inflation in October was almost flat at 3.2%. Falling gas prices helped, but soaring shelter costs hurt. But digging deeper into the report yields some interesting and even bizarre details.
Let’s start with food prices, which rose 0.3% in October. Certain foods were sticking out. Raw beef roast prices rose 4.1% from September, while pork chops rose 3.5%. Cattle and hog stocks have declined recently, according to a Department of Agriculture report. Meanwhile, apple prices fell by a whopping 7.9%.
The food wasn’t the only funky result. Laundry equipment prices fell by 5%, while photographic equipment and supplies rose by 6.8%. Women’s outerwear fell 5.9%. However, with the price of stationery, stationery supplies and gift wrapping increasing by 3.5%, the cost of wrapping a coat will become even more expensive. Additionally, tickets for sporting events rose 3.6%. Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James, noted that the National Hockey League began its regular season on Oct. 10 and the National Basketball Association began its regular season on Oct. 24. There is a possibility that it will be accepted.”
According to Aleman, most items are not given much weight in the overall report. He said, “Some of them are very small in the overall CPI, so I don’t think they basically have much influence on the overall direction of the core CPI.” Still, in contrast to reality, consumers and economists may have different views when it comes to inflation perception.
Write destination Angela Palumbo, angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
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last week
market
The House and Senate passed legislation to provide temporary funding to the government for the new year. Exclusions: Aid to Israel and Ukraine. The consumer price index in October came in at an annualized 3.2% (almost unchanged in October), lower than expected, US Treasury yields fell, and stock prices rose. The number of unemployment insurance applications increased. It’s been a wonderful week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
It increased by 1.94%.
S&P500
Increased by 2.24%,
Nasdaq Composite
It rose by 2.37%.
company
President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco and discussed a variety of issues. Boeing won a $52 billion order for the 777X wide-body jet from Emirates, and China considered lifting its freeze on purchases of the 737 MAX. The $771 billion Federal Retirement Savings Investment Board has voted to exclude Chinese and Hong Kong stocks.Berkshire Hathaway reveals sale of stakes in General Motors and Johnson & Johnson
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Microsoft announced two new AI chips. OpenAI’s board of directors has ousted co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, citing a lack of candor in communication.
Information of sale
Johnson Associates says Wall Street trading bonuses could fall by an average of 25% in January…Canadian mining company Teck Resources has 77% of its coal assets based in Switzerland It has agreed to sell to Glencore for $6.9 billion in cash. Glencore plans to spin off its coal company within two years. Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel maintains a 20% stake, South Korea’s Posco 3%… Alibaba spins off its cloud computing business and delists its grocery chain.
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Write destination Robert Teitelman bob.reitelman@dowjones.com
next week
11/20 Monday
conference board announced the leading economic indicators for October. The consensus forecast is for a decline of 0.6% from the previous month. LEI fell for 18 consecutive months. Despite strong GDP growth this year, the Conference Board still predicts a shallow recession in the first half of 2024.
Tuesday 11/21
Nvidia reports third quarter 2024 results. The flagship stock of the AI-driven Nasdaq, which is up 35% this year, is expected to earn $3.37 per share on revenue of $16.2 billion. This would represent a 481% increase in his EPS and a 173% increase in revenue over the previous year. Shares of the largest semiconductor company by market capitalization are up 237% this year, the best performer in the S&P 500 index.
Wednesday 11/22
federal open market The Committee published the minutes of its monetary policy meeting in early November. The FOMC has kept the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50% since July, and Wall Street is confident the Fed is done raising rates this cycle.
11/23(Thu)
Stock market and bond market We will be closed for Thanksgiving.
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