- Nice day to swim with the tide in the market. Okay, whatever to get the Miss Universe bikini pictures in.
- The dramatic drop in oil prices and the good Wells Fargo report getting the credit from Forbes. In addition to sinking oil prices, investors found relief in a decision by Wells Fargo & Co. to boost its dividend that helped counter some of the market's concerns about the health of banks. The San Francisco-based bank's move to raise its payout, along with its tamer-than-expected profit decline, was seen as a bullish sign for the troubled sector.
- Of course, the financial media will be arguing if this is just a one-day wonder, bear market rally, or the bottom. So far, the latter hasn't shown up.
- I remain 100% invested. Fun, fun, and more fun. Despite the constant drumbeat of gloom and doom in the media and in the campaign speeches, the economy is still growing (if only slowly). One thing that catches my eye is the tech sector. I was following the E3 video gaming conference a bit this week, and also the Apple iPhone blogs. Folks are out there buying tech stuff up like crazy.
- Good luck finding a Nintendo Wii or Wii Fit game. Or an 80-gig Playstation 3.
- Inflation also hit the headlines today with CPI data coming at the highest rate in 16 years. This was, of course, led by energy and commodities. But even the core number was up higher than expected. Consumer prices shot up in June at the second fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices jumped 1.1 percent last month, much worse than had been expected. Energy prices rocketed upward by 6.6 percent, reflecting big gains for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas.
- Who in the Unitied States is using heating oil in the middle of July? Maybe it's my coworkers who show up wearing sweaters on 100-degree days.
- I'm thinking that the inflation number isn't a secular trend, just a one-month blip. But that's a hard argument to win today. I guess I'll let the inflation worriers have today.
- But folks are already talking about the Fed hiking rates. Combine that with a sluggish economy, high energy prices and potentially a President Obama who wants to raise your taxes, not to mention troubled states like California wanting to raise your taxes, seems like that'd be the recipe for something much worse than we have today. Or maybe that's what the stock market is pricing in.
