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Housing Starts Plummet To Second Lowest Ever At 479K, Finished Consumer Food PPI Jumps By Highest Since 1974
Stagflation, bitchez. PPI in February doubled to 1.6% on expectations of 0.7%, compared to 0.8% previously, and 5.6% Y/Y! This is the largest increase in finished goods prices since a 1.9-percent advance in June 2009. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved up 2.0 percent, and the crude goods index climbed 3.4 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods advanced 5.6 percent for the 12 months ended February 2011, the largest 12-month increase since a 5.9-percent rise in March 2010." And the stunner: "The index for finished consumer foods surged 3.9 percent in February, the largest increase since a 4.2-percent climb in November 1974. About seventy percent of the February rise can be traced to higher prices for fresh and dry vegetables, which jumped 48.7 percent. Advances in the indexes for meats and dairy products also were major factors in the increase in the finished consumer foods index." And while inflation is everywhere, or at least for items people need, the housing market is now official dead. February housing starts came at 479K on expectations of 566K, a massive 22.5% collapse from revised January data, and the second lowest ever, better only to April 2009's 477K. Overall: complete stagflationary disaster, and one which means the Fed will use any excuse for QE3, inflation be damned.
PPI:
And starts:
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stagflation in hard numbers
Undeniable, mathematical proof of Bernanke's outright failure.
There is no other possible way to spin this. Here it is in hard numbers. Bernanke's policy is dangerous, and his continued adherence to quantitative easing is dishonest at best -- traitorous at worst.
Bernanke is a direct and immediate threat to American security and stability.
There is no other possible way to spin this.
Bernanke isn't bi-flating he's bi-winning.
Duh.
And don't even try to parse through figures like this, you can't handle it, your face will melt off...
Didn't the freeze in Mexico have something to do with higher food prices? I can't stand what's happening either, but we should be circumspect.
http://thepacker.com/Mexico-freeze-threatens-vegetable-crops/Article.asp...
Yep, any kind of additional information is junk worthy. As much as I love this site, the trolls are certainly trying.
Next time you go food shopping, pay special attention to any product that has a "New Low Price" tag on it. I'd be willing to bet that you will find that the package size is now 7, 11, 14, or 15 oz. Prior to the "New Low Price", it was 8, 12, or 16 oz.
I shop at several different grocery stores (depending on what other stops I have to make that day) and I've seen it on numerous items at all of them over the last month. I've observed this in dairy products, cereals, canned goods, etc.
They will keep the "New Low Price" for a few months and then slowly creep it back to the "normal" price inside of a year. Based on the new package sizes, such items will be cost 10-15% more when that happens as compared to the cost a month or two ago.
I've noticed this too....I actually created a "social" website (yes I hate that term) that allows people to submit info around prices they paid and product package sizes. Its only me and my friends submitting data now but I'd love to get some people from this site contributing data so we can get some real transparency into what's going on and how the average citizen is being impacted. Check it out (always free) at http://www.collectivecpi.com
Another "snow" excuse. I saw a guy blaming good weatehr for more people filing for UE bennies. People don't file as much when teh weather is bad? Ha!
Negative real interest rates, hurrah.
Get out the Mission Accomplished banner.
dollar down market up that is all you need to know.... lol
I don't remember who said it, but.... "evil is not making money, evil is rigging the game so you don't lose"
This market is a rigged game. Ben will pump, and the market will go up.
Quick Ben, pump some liquidity into the system. Your junkie needs a fix.
The ultimate re-up.
Conversely, demand for piano boxes and shipping crates at highest levels since 1930.
Two downgrades on AAPL...can't remember last time that has happen...maybe NEVER....haha
That's ok, nflx upgraded to screaming buy, more than makes up for the aapl downgrades.
"About seventy percent of the February rise can be traced to higher prices for fresh and dry vegetables, which jumped 48.7 percent."
This quote suggests to me that the numbers don't mean much. Fresh and dry vegetables as a barometer of the US economy? I don't think so.
keep drinking the kool aid tex
Who talked about a "barometer of the US economy"?
If you don't understand what inflation is, maybe you should go back to MarketWatch or the HuffPo.
Someone on the Yahoo Finance board asked what the PPI was????? On the SLV site...LOL
I guess being on Yahoo, a search engine powered by Google, it would be too hard to type in a search for PPI.
Think greens and potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. About all the unemployed, and soon to include the employed, can afford.
No free salad bar for you!!!!
Correct. Americans dont eat fruit and vegetables. What matters? Check the price rise in "Monsanto engineered Franken-cheese" and "Monsanto engineered Franken-beef" and "Monsanto engineered Franken-bread" and Monsanto engineered Franken-Secret sauce" et viola! You have the typical American diet- a Delicious Franken BigMac! So far the price is stable so BEnron is doing GOD's work! GOOD JOB BEN!
don't forget HFCS and roundup laced lettuce.
That quote talks about inflation . The state of the economy is reflected in the new housing starts quote . I can see that when God made you he decided to make up for your lack of brains with big breasts .
+69
Oh, you are so sexist. You hurt my feelings! No free hugs for you bingaling!
Tex, which are the foodstuffs with shortest shelflife? So what should be the leading indicator?
Would Twinkies be a better barometer of inflation with their 100 years of creamy cakelike goodness before rotting?
Or maybe you're just laughing at all of the Americans who don't eat their fruits and veggies.
Laugh now, but when this ball continues rolling, you will have been warned.
True about short shelf life, but these numbers bounce around so much that short term they are meaningless. If I had known how much crap would be thrown at me for this, I would not have posted.
Now there's an idea!
What the fuck? These numbers (rate of inflation in food stuffs) don't "bounce around." They only increase at more or less volatile rates. Right now it's more volatile, to the point that broke ass chumps like me are wondering where in the fuck we're going to manage to cut a food budget of $50/week.
So no, these numbers aren't "meaningless." Too much more of this and the shitstorm gets started proper in this country. I'm going to feed my son, one way or the other. Full stop.
It is not a barometer of the economy as much as it is a measure of the increased cost of shit that people consume everyday.
More money spent on necessities like food and fuel....much less is spent on discretionary items - like all that worthless shit people buy at WalMart and Best Buy.
Since we subscribe to a ridiculous, farse of an economy...where consumption must constantly rise...this is bad news, and probably means that there will be less "Growth" overall in the coming months.
So...is it a direct "barometer" of te economy...no. But it is a "barometer" of the commodity that runs the economy...which is the purchasing power of the dollar.
"It's all good"...
Ben Bernanke
Retards answer to the problem -The Fed fucking threw the kitchen sink at this already and the results have been horrific . Their answer seems to be we need to throw bigger kitchen sinks . The only people they have saved work on one street in NYC . They act like they saved the world when all they really did was make wall street the biggest welfare case in history .
When all you have is a hammer...
...everything looks like a sink.
Nah. That was dumb. I must be bleary-brained today. Again?
Big lead on CNBC this morning: "Time to buy the home builders?"
Who are these people?
Momo-zombies.
All going according to plan, right Timmy and Benron?
Hyperstagflation, bitchez!
When one manipulates data for a long period of time, a crisis is an excellent opportunity to perform a "true up." Think this data would've been released if there had been no Japanese disaster?
Exactly. I believe the accounting term for this is "taking a bath" or something similar.
They do not give a flying shit about you or I!!!! They only care about protecting the wealthy banksters via POMO stock market injection bullshit. We live in a F*&Ked up world which has seen its last day.
Yep. The chosen had constructed such a beautiful world - artificial 'debt' backed by very, very real taxes. No one wonder they were willing to sacrifice the lives of ordinary Americans to preserve such an incredible system.
Ah, but it was never destined to be; thank goodness (@ least from their perspective) their dual citizenship papers will come in handy.
Greenspan recently said "don't underestimate the paper wealth effect". If people feel like there may be some hope for retirement (due inflating their IRAs and 401Ks), they may go out and spend a little money now.
As for taxes, only half of Americans pay income taxes anymore. That number will decrease steadily over the next decade. They will have to go to sales/VAT taxes in order to steal money from the citizenry. Of course if the FED ends up holding all Treasury debt, the interest paid on it will be refunded to the Treasury for the idiots in DC to spend again.
Loss of reserve currency status will be what sinks this ship, but that will be after WW3.
Sad to admit but I had CNBC on when the numbers hit. Liesman has totally lost it. He tried to say that the Fed policy is deflationary since the commodity inflation is stopping people from buying, thereby creating defaltion. It hurt just to listen to him. If he hadn't 'jumped the shark' before, this has to be the moment. It was just such garbage. And of course the only number he would talk about was core PPI because that came in at expecations. Insanity!
can't lose what you don't have
Just because a media has a famous name does not mean it is not utterly pathetic and ridiculous.
Do you know the Pravda?
So stop watching this shit and save your nervous system from overheating.
You only lose the infomercials and the big boobs of the anchorettes.
i will miss the anchorettes
.
Nice bod, Saxon.
You and Saxxon would make some beautiful children.
I mean the pecs would be awesome.
FYI
Not that economists should be trusted, but Steve Liesman is not an economist. However, he pretends to be one on TV. The guy has a degree in Journalism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Liesman
That cannot be said enough. He is nothing but a poser.
"I am not an economist, I just play one on T.V.. Today I am hear to encourage you to buy Treasury Bonds from your local branch of TBTF Bank. Your government needs you to help fight endless wars, pay people not to work, feed millions of fellow Americans on food stamps, keep our bloated government union employee system growing, etc...
You may have bought gold or silver in the past, and expeirenced amazing returns by doing so. But today I am asking you to sell your gold and silver, so you can buy US Treasury Bonds. At todays 2% blended yield, you will have a negative real return, but you will be supporting out of control government spending. Do the right thing, sell gold, buy bonds."
Steve Liesman, CNBC
The CNBC folks are pissed because they can't own individual stocks, only stuff like ETFs. Mark Haynes has said in the past that his investments are in rental property. He must be way under water -- hence the exaggerated comb-over as a flotation device. There ya have it.
What about that white-haired guy who used to be on law and order? He looks like he knows all about finance, and he works for TD PriceTradeCoopers!
I saw him one time on an infomercial about the threat of robots, too.
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/video_oldglory_hi.html
/sarc off.
They should of cut his microphone off as they did yesterday, moments after the FOMC briefing.
I think he's still "stunned" after the Mark Faber Bernank bitch slap!
Bloomberg is not better, the below video is a bit old, but the message is clear. And that is what I take, which can be applied to any other MSM message.
The video below is one between a Bloomberg anchor, Bill Fleckenstein & Barton Biggs, known fund managers and strategists. What to take from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtxm1BLJByg&feature=player_embedded
1) Putting pretty bimbos talking about the economy (that have no idea what the fuck is going on) will only raise ratings and attract dumb people that want pretty people tell them dumb shit
2) Every time there is a main idea coming up, that is inconsistent with the main view, there is a commercial break
3) Every time someone talks about the Federal Reserve the opposition is so strong as you fucked their mother
4) Putting an old man that talks slow (and has to be smart and experienced) in the show makes more sense, and his evidence is ‘stronger’ versus a long hair, non-tie-wearing, unshaven, Seattle based manager. What the fuck do they know anyway (being outside of NY), but music & coffee.
5) If someone talks about what they would have done 10-15 years ago to prevent the 3 bubbles we had and are having (tech, housing & now bonds/US dollar) the question comes back: “What would you have done yesterday” — Our attention span is measured in milliseconds, so yesterday is very very long ago.
Anyway, here you go, enjoy the bimbo, the old man and the surfer/musician. Neo @ theneomatrix.com
futures up, as Bernank bypasses the lube to dry fuck the middle class up the ass again.
God I hate being right - throw your FRN's overboard. This is the beginning of the HYPER-inflationary explosion. Watch Joe Sixpack have a shitfit and march on Washington with pitchforks and torches. You do NOT want to be short here UNTIL policy changes and that ain't happening any time soon.
It took Bloomberg TV less than 10 minutes to spin these horrible PPI and Housing Starts data:
' Housing starts offset by previous upward revisions....PPI was just the price of fuel, BFD...'
Now, back to Betty Liu (and make sure the camera goes to her legs, which look fantastic today)...
More reasons to validate the actual results of DJIA and oil prices vs. these February 6th predictions- the drop in stocks will continue as Oil will eat away all QE effect and flight for safety will keep USD high-there is a slight hiccup in June perhaps by QE3. But it won't last long because of rising oil prices.
http://www.saposjoint.net/Forum/download/file.php?id=2608
http://www.saposjoint.net/Forum/download/file.php?id=2609
Some here may be familiar with recent arguments from Jim Rickards suggesting that the Fed balance sheet is now so large that its "procedes" now in and of itself constitutes a perpetual 750b annual injection even in the absence of further overt 'QE'.
I heard the interview on King World News. If the Japanese sell Treasuries....If the US government has the desire to assist our Japanese allies in their time of greatest need......If there turns out to be a full blown middle-eastern war...750b is enough, until it isn't.
Yup. And don't forget that all HUGE those SWFs are composed of Treasury paper.
Calling the issuances of the Treas/Fed an "asset" is dangerous.
Beat me to it 'uf'... makes sense, and they get to have it both ways... "what QE, the system is now healthy enough to go it alone!"
And, they still have enough in maturing treasuries to keep the sytem awash in Ben's funny money... I wonder if he actually planned this from the beginning (maybe he's not a complete whack job after all... sorry 'bout that, a moment of weakness...lol).
"Don't trip....I got this..."
Ben Bernanke
print some more - housing tanks again, well thats deflation says the Benak," I see no inflation." we must print more..food prices are not important, energy prices mean nothing.
We at the Fed will continue to Feed on the peoples of the world, the hungry cold Japanese should have been on wall street and in our banks - then they would be FED well..with bonus money for all.
to my ZH fam...
some mother fuckers "aint fallin for the banana in the tail pipe shit no mo"...
check out the last the last line.
http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2264493998.html
Just reinforces that craigslist and ebay is where the people should get their CPI numbers. Never trust the gov numbers. This guy is selling a car for gold. Look to ebay for spot prices.
Here are the completed (sold) Eagle bullion listings:
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/American-Eagle-/39483/i.html?LH_Complete=...
Note 1/10 oz for $170 each. There is your extreme premium over spot. Note that a lot of proofs are listed as well in the "bullion" category. That means that proof premiums are near nil.
Personal experience is if you have a fair amount of cash (+$2000), buy from a big dealer, you will get best price. But, I have bought on ebay when you just want a coin or two. Bottom line, ebay is the street price since thats where most of John Q Public will go once they hear they should "buy gold". Thanks for the link.
That link was for sold listings. Here is the link for active listings:
http://coins.shop.ebay.com/Gold-/45134/i.html?_nkw=1+oz+gold+eagle&_catr...
Great link... thx!
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1977!
You mean party like it's 1929.....
your opening line... perfect comedic timing. from one to another.
it just keeps getting worse, on all fronts.......
http://nakedempire.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/fiat-money-fiat-inflation/
If you just stop eating fresh and dry vegetables, and meats and dairy products, and stop driving- there- see- inflation isn't such a problem!!
Had a guest over to the house yesterday afternoon. She was complaining about her mortgage and how they are broke. It's the middle of the month, no paycheck for 2 weeks, and they are broke. I walked her around my yard to see the apple trees in bloom, turnips, swiss chard, tomato seedlings, fig tree rootings, grape arbor, new potatoes in the ground, radishes growing. Makes me thankful that I read the "Monster from Jeckell Island" in 2008 and followed up with other literature.
That monsta was a real Creature I bet
That monsta still has deep claws around the neck of the people. pinching, suffocating, supressing....
...and then go play with your iPad so you won't notice your stomach growling.
Bill Dudley says you can just eat it:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870489360457619911345271927...
Housing construction was always the driving force behind a healthy US economy. Not a flying pig's chance we can pull an sustainable recovery with these numbers.
Hmmmmm, horrible U.S. economic news is a non-event ...
This TRULY is not the story you should spend another second on.
The world's third largest economy and monocultural state is beginning to come apart at the seams and AS OF THIS MORNING is dropping down to a third tier story on ALL global news streams (including a nice human interest piece on NHK right now) ...
... that's the freaking story because it means ...
THERE ARE NO MORE BLACK SWANS!!!
barliman
when ever I watch CNBC (a few minutes a month)..I see and hear the managed news -
but I can no longer fault them.."they know not what they do "-should be: they know, but they dare not do otherwise.
the dupes who are well meaning ,are told, if we do not present the oligarchs -banksters lies..the deluge.
they will murder off the whole worlds poor just to prevent an elite corrupt few from going BK.
incredible. they are not human they are alien to the core and THEY LIVE among us they look like us but they are not us.
Read my lips...i mean read my finger strokes on keyboard...there will be no QE3.
Just goes on and on....until it stops. Then, game over.
The past few days have been driven by the fast money crowd. Looks like people taking off hedges, playing the bounce, etc. I think real money, the slower money, finally getting time to digest the news and not just react. Between the massive outperformance of the U.S. market since the quake and the awful numbers this morning, we could see real money finally selling and trigger another wave of fast money shorting. Doubt it happens til after 10 and unlikely to be big (barring actual news) until they tomorrow's numbers.
Regarding the food price increase, these are wholesale prices, correct? If so, I'm curious to see how much of these increases are being passed along to the end user.
For example, I have a client who runs one of the largest milk companies in the US. His company supplies all the supermarkets in my area of the country. He said that his company was raising the price on a gallon of milk by 12 cents, but then it's up to the retailer to decide whether to pass this increased cost to the consumer. According to him, they've been reluctant to do so.
That means going broke. If retailers, will not pass on price increases, then the retailer has to cut back in other areas, like employees (service), maintenance, and advertising. But if they do pass on the price increases, consumers go elsewhere. Sucks to be in retail these days.
That's exactly what I've been hearing. Either profit margin erosion or the consumers go away. Definitely sucks.
He told me something else which was amazing. Most of his sales occur on the 1st of the month, and by a wide margin. The answer: food stamps and other government assistance programs. Crazy.
Most big retail grocery chains know that milk is a common destination purchase for shoppers visiting the store. That's why it is typically placed at the back of the store, so the shopper gets a look at the Oreos, Tastycakes and Capn' Crunch along the way out. That's where they make the fatter margins. The margin on milk is kept as thin as possible for that very reason.
Snow?
Was there ever any doubt that the Bernank would have to come out sometime in April / May - after some rapid declines in the economy to announce that the QE program would be extended?
I will be very surprised if his experiement ends in June as scheduled...inflation or not...Especially considering the recent developments in Japan and the Mid-East - which have not played out or directly had any effect on our nation's GDP or long-term economic numbers or forecasts yet....
"Let them eat Fiat..."
Firm footing prevails. LOL
You can't eat food
There will be no QE3, China has given the US an ultimatum. My hunch! Time to sink into the Abyss.
BUT, every cloud has a Silver lining...Hi-Yo Silver, Away!!!!!
On another housing note, prosper.org.au has suggested a property strike for buyers here in Australia. Trying to get votes on a local campaigning site if anyone has 10 seonds to help us increase the votes:
Click vote top left, enter email/name and click 3 votes :) (no confirmation req)
http://suggest.getup.org.au/forums/60819-campaign-ideas/suggestions/1595...
don't be blindsided by today's rebound in Nikkei: http://www.hedgefundlive.com/blog/nikkei-rebounds-but-macro-picture-just-looks-uglier
now go foreclose on another 1 million Americans
I found this translation company who'll accept gold and silver http://www.ittrans.co.uk/free-quote
CNBC just asked if spring would be kind to the "home sweet homebuilders." Fail.
Sumdays, trading the a.m. gold fix comes late and I miss my tee off time.
Obama on vacation again? Brazil?
Maybe we should call him Nero.
Nerobama!
I wouldn't be so sure about the inflationary component of stagflation. Tomorrow's cpi will probably show that, yet again, companies are unable to pass on the higher costs (at least not all of them) to consumers and Q1 earnings reports should confirm just that. At that point probably quite a few will want to cash in on their chips and we all know how a zero-sum game works...
Coles notes of James Dines interview, focus is gold, silver and rare earths. See's silver going to $100-150/oz.
http://goldandsilverlinings.com/?p=260
This explains last weeks price for a head of lettuce--$2.69
As you prepare for the inevitable, if you are thinking of planting a garden this spring, plant a little patch of heirloom tobacco whether you smoke or not. Non-GMO heirloom tobacco is easy to grow and there are varieties that will thrive in your garden wherever you live from Florida to Alaska. Tobacco has always been a powerful tool for barter during crises that destroy a country's wealth. 50 million + Americans are hooked on conventional smokes which they soon will not be able to afford to buy. Does your auto mechanic smoke? How about your plumber? Your hairdresser? Think - bartering for essential services without digging into your stash of PMs. I have a complete free guide to growing your own (in addition to a more detailed book for sale on Amazon) on my website www.cultivatorshandbook.com
I have bought your tobacco products on eBay. Good stuff!
American Spirit non-filters are the only ones I smoke. They are my go-to cigarette except on the very rare occasion that I find a fresh pack of English Ovals.
A+, Bernanke, A+ Great Job. Inflation? Check. Unemployment? Check. And what was that third mandate? Oh yeah, Bail out G-Sachs: Check. WHAT GOOD ARE M-FERS? WHAT GOOD? Why do they still have jobs?
Hang in there Tex. We are all so exhasuted listening to the Orwellian media spin that we have a low tolerance for what appears to be MSM kool-aid drinking. We all know contrarian views are healthy, but ZH is one of the few places where you can actually get to the truth of the matter, but the trolls and shills are tedious so people tend to beat the living shit out of anyone who appears to be playing that role.
Any retard in the MSM and policymaker that continues to listen to the fed deserve to be guilty of the crimes against humanity as well. Don't fight the fed? Fuck the fed! If you had a chance to stop Hitler before he went parabolic, wouldn't you?
Ben will pump money into the economy. If that doesn't work he will pump sea water. Get ready!
Baghdad Ben Bernanke says it's all good in the hood, and William 'Goldmanite' Dudley says eat iPads.
isnt the decrase in housing starts good?
allow for decrease in excess old home inventory?
Not if you are the people that are supposed to be building them.
Nearly 1.9 million mortgageholders in California have no equity in their homes. One-in-three are in danger of walking away or defaulting.
www.doctorhousingbubble.com
But, but, but....THEY TOLD US THAT UNEMPLOYMENT WAS GOING TO BE AT 7.7% IN TIME FOR HIS ONENESS' REELECT!
Got fallout?
The "Bernank" told me inflation"good"
So all is well in Hell.
When Hyper-Inflation comes to America. You are going to see a lot of angry folks taking to the streets.
I will join them.
I am prepared to die for what I believe in. Our Founders gave us so much only to be taken away in such a short time.
AMERICA IS NOT A FREE COUNTRY!
I want my liberty back!
My radio dude just told me my power bill is going to increase 50 fucking % over the next 4 years.
Thats a good thing ,right.???
"I want my liberty back"
You got it allready......
Says so on the One ounce Silver Liberty coin.
Sorry to say thats as close as you are going to get.
But on a good note: I am will and ready to die in the streets with you b_B....Good luck
to banster, and blythe..don't be willing to die in the street ,,take out the alien elite one at a time..confrontation of modern military/police state is not a winning strategy.
Dollar is a mental value concept controlled by
a small group of elites.We the people battle on
a physical level for survival,while they just put
the buttons and play this game on a total other
level.
Is it true the Bernank blamed higher food prices on more sophisticated diets ? I've googled it, but could not find any corroboration. Would not suprise me anyways.