Said

 

a while back...

"inflation bout to be the least of your worries..."

Consumer prices fell 0.1% in December, in line with expectations from economists

I love CNBC lol.

(Thats sarcasm BTW lol)

They're so rah-rah, go team were all doin good etc...:-).

"The consumer price index fell 0.1% in December, meeting expectations, for the biggest drop since April 2020."

(The biggest drop in two years is .1%? With all we have done with interest reates and SPR drawdowns? If this doesn't tell you the problem is systemic? Then what is?)

"Excluding food and energy, 

(Dont even get me started, it's just the two things people need the most to live, lets just exclude them. I know volitivity etc., my ass...)

core CPI rose 0.3%, also in line with estimates.

"On an annual basis, headline CPI rose 6.5% while core increased 5.7%.

"The biggest reason for the easing in inflation came from a sharp drop in gasoline prices, which are now lower on a year-over-year basis."

(And what do you think is going to happen the next time oil prices go up and we wont be able to draw down the SPR any more? Then what? Keep in mind petrolrum goes into 1000's of consumer products etc)

"Even with the decline, headline CPI rose 6.5% from a year ago, highlighting the persistent burden that the rising cost of living has placed on U.S. households. 

( "highlighting the persistent burden"...Because the FED created a systemic problem.)

"A steep drop in gasoline was responsible for most of the monthly decline. Prices at the pump tumbled 9.4% for the month and are now down 1.5% from a year ago after surging past $5 a gallon in mid-2022."

(And next time? wats the plan to lower prices then?)

Fuel oil slid 16.6% for the month, also contributing to a total 4.5% decline in the energy index.

Food prices increased 0.3% in December while shelter also saw another sharp gain up 0.8% for the month and now 7.5% higher from a year ago. Shelter accounts for about one-third of the total CPI index.

("Shelter accounts for about one-third of the total CPI index."

Next thing you know they will take it out of the metric.)

“Inflation is quickly moderating. Obviously, it’s still painfully high, but it’s quickly moving in the right direction,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “I see nothing but good news in the report except for the top-line number: 6.5% is way too high.”

(False prophets of baal much?

1 Thessalonians 5:3 much?)

"There was some indication in the data that consumer are shifting behavior. Along with that came a note of caution in that the December decline was largely fed by a a drop in gas prices that may not be sustainable given market dynamics and consumer demand."

(This is what they do, they front end load the "feel good news" and bury what you really need to know farther down the article where nobody ever reads. Take it from somebody who watches, understands, knows, etc...t"he December decline was largely fed by a a drop in gas prices that may not be sustainable given market dynamics and consumer demand."

Well thank you Captain Obvious.

You got anymore wise oracles you wish to declare?)

“We know that we won’t get the same kind of support from gasoline prices. So don’t expect the next report to look as good as this one,” said Simona Mocuta, chief economist at State Street Global Advisors.

(- .1 %?

Thats good?

They really trying to sell this dog to the general public?

"Supply chain bottlenecks, 

the war in Ukraine, 

and trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus 

helped contribute 

to surging prices that spanned across most areas of the economy."

(again, 

the most important reason and the reason the problem is systemic and will not go away anytime soon is listed last, "trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus". If you're counting on the people who created the problem to fix it?

Good luck w dat.

The discerning mind asks?

Why?

And to do this consistently over years now?

Why?

The answer ought to be pretty obvious)

'The Fed so far has raised its benchmark borrowing rate 4.25 percentage points to its highest level in 15 years. Officials have indicated the rate is likely to exceed 5% before they can step back to see the impact of the policy tightening.'

(We have never cured inflation without getting interest rates above it. Ever. The fed knows this, so why are they gonna stop at 5%? You know what I been sayin...)

What happens to inflation when gas prices go back up?

When we cant release any more oil from the SPR?

Then wat?

Read a thing the other day about why egg prices were so much higher now than they were a few years ago, trust me I've lived on eggs practically for a few years now, anyway the reason prices are so high?

Is a variety of factors but mainly two things:

1) More people are using them as a source of protein instead of chicken, pork beef etc because they simply cant afford those as much these days so there is increased demand.

2)And then there was an avian flu outbreak among the birds.

Wanna add that to our list of ideocracies?

economy is strong, labor market is strong...blah blah bahthen why so many people switching forms of protein?

NEVERMIND...

Like I said at the beginning

Inflation bout to be the least of your worries.

"Increasing Worries about an Imminent Chinese Attack

Senior military officials have expressed concerns that China’s military might be preparing a military

solution to the “breakaway province” problem—or preparing that capability in case called upon to act.

Admiral Philip S. Davidson, 

commander of Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) until April 2021,

testified that the Chinese threat to invade Taiwan “is manifest . . . in the next six years.”27 

Current

INDOPACOM commander Admiral John C. Aquilino, when asked for his opinion, stated that “this

problem is much closer to us than most think.”28 

Other military and civilian officials—for example,

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, 

Admiral Michael M. Gilday, chief of naval operations, 

and Admiral

Charles Richard, head of Strategic Command—

have expressed similar concerns. 

This is a broad

narrative in the national security community."

The First Battle of the Next War Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan

Thats just the first battle.

 Gonna largely depend on our submarine fleet for a positive outcome.

One thing struck me as glaringly absent from this report,

No mention of the ELF communications or where they come from.

This is Extremely Low Frequency communications subs get that tell them to go to such a depth to release a "Buoy" or a Float" etc. that contains an antenna to receive regular radio wave communications which has enough bandwidth to receive all the information they need in their orders. The ELF communication tells them to go to a level to get their orders.

So here's my question:

What happens when the ELF locations get taken out by Hypersonics ahead of any invasion/blokade of tiawauin?

54 subs 

some of them Nuke capable 

wondering around in the Pacific not being able to receive orders

What could possibly go wrong in that scenario?

And why didn't the Center for Strategic and International Studies even consider it as a possibliity?

ELF communications wasn't listed in the report.

Let alone the fact that our sites are vulnerable to Hypersonic attack.

I think the Center for Strategic and International Studies painted a much more rosy picture than what it is going to turn out.

And if we move that many subs to the pacific?

Then (just like the authors say) we cant "shadow" Russian subs in the atlantic.

Godspeed everybody.

Journey well my friends.