Inflation: Still Not Transitory

It’s almost like a line from a vintage SNL weekend update.

See if you can find a category in Table A below which is susceptible to price decreases.

Blame it on supply chain shortages rather than trillions in stimulus if you like, but the current inflation spike is likely to be with us for quite some time. Only the BLS’s cooked books prevented a new 20-year high. It goes without saying that the uncooked numbers are much worse. Take this chart, for instance, comparing actual apartment rental rates to the BLS’ fictional OER.

Futures dipped back to UNCH on the news, looking as though they might even turn negative. But, the algos were transfixed by VIX’s daily pre-opening dip below its SMA200 and, well, we all know how that works.