Tuesday, December 16, 2008

CPI Slides 1.7%

From Marketwatch:

The U.S. consumer price index fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.7%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, the biggest drop since the government began adjusting the CPI for seasonal factors in 1947. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI fell by 1.9%, the biggest decline since January 1932, at the nadir of the Great Depression.

Here is the full story.
This may now be old news, since commodity prices have shown signs that they have bottomed during the month of December.
That said, as long as economic news remains weak, I don't see a new bull run in commodities. I suspect it will be a trader's market, meaning that opportunities will be short-term, lasting a few days or weeks. Even demand for commodities in China is softening significantly. For the foreseeable future, deflation is the concern of the world's central bankers. What an amazing turnaround, given that just 5 months ago, we were concerned about rapidly-escalating inflation!