Inflation
April 19, 2021
–On Friday, I pasted out a clip from Cass Transportation, just a couple of lines including this one: “For truckload linehaul rates, shippers paid an average of 10.1% higher than a year ago, causing that index to also reach a new all-time high.”
I don’t usually get a lot of response but this one struck a nerve with a few people. Here’s one:
“On a personal note for inflation, last month I purchased a ge refrigerator it took two months for delivery and cost $2400 !! Last week my hot water heater went out it was 10 years old [at that time] I paid $850.00 all in. The new one $2100… I asked the union plumber who I have used for 25 years why so expensive he said it all about the parts inside that have skyrocketed and his union wages are $182 an hour (I am in the wrong business). He then said he has 2 left and won’t be able to restock for another month or so because there is a big shortage. Needless to say I wrote a check.”
This one is like the joke where the client says, I’m not making that kind of money and I’m a neurosurgeon! And the plumber replies, “Yeah, I wasn’t making that much when I was a neurosurgeon either.”
Of course the best response was from a friend who trades energies, who simply said, “We just sold some RBOB Aug 2.35 calls for 0.80 over value” as if any idiot (that would be me) can make the connection between blistering demand for gasoline calls and inflation. I still don’t know whether this inflation is sustainable, but I absolutely know it’s here now.
–Yields rebounded a bit Friday from Thursday’s plunge, with tens up 4 to 157. As mentioned on the weekend, China’s Huarong CDS exploded higher Wednesday and Thursday, corresponding to the tumble in US treasury yields, and eased Friday (ditto). China’s financial regulator apparently said the company has adequate liquidity.
–A seven year old girl, Jaslyn Adams was shot multiple times and killed at a McDonald’s drive-thru on Chicago’s west side yesterday afternoon. Her father was also shot but still alive. This is likely the only time you’ll ever hear of Jaslyn Adams, but stories of children being shot is depressingly common in Chicago. Earlier this month, an eight year old boy and ten year old girl were shot at a Saturday afternoon baby shower in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. “Police reportedly had no suspects in custody as of Saturday evening. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that ‘individuals on scene are not being cooperative with detectives.'” Maxine Waters is urging protestors to “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin isn’t convicted of murdering George Floyd. Completely irresponsible. There are huge gang problems in some of the major urban areas. Make the connection.
