CPI Breaks Market; More Downside To Come

Both the core and headline CPI “surprised” economists. The CPI “surprised” to the upside, coming in at 8.6% year-on-year. Were you forwarded this email? [Sign-up to Rude Awakening here.]( [Unsubscribe]( [The Rude Awakening] CPI Breaks Market; More Downside To Come - The CPI “surprised” to the upside, coming in at 8.6% year-on-year. - The core CPI also exceeded expectations reporting a 6.0% year-on-year rise. - The Fed’s inflation target is 2%. Recommended Link [Fed Exposed! Former government insider tells ALL]( [Click here for more...]( Secret plan to destroy the markets? This [former government insider]( just went on LIVE camera and exposed the Federal Reserve for what it REALLY is… An institution created in secret designed to rob you of your savings, and destroy your wealth. And even though we all know these central bankers have blood on their hands (inflation, the Greenspan bubble, Ben Bernanke)… No one, and I mean NO ONE expected [this.]( If what this insider says is correct, you may only have days to prepare. See his shocking exposé. [Click Here Now]( Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening A good Monday to you from sunny Italy! This Saturday, we went to Camogli, on the Italian Riviera, for some fun in the sun. Camogli is a colorful, scenic place, with beautiful people populating its beaches. Italian women do not disappoint, my friend. Madonna Mia! I’m reminded of Connery’s Bond, who told Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever, “That's quite a nice little nothing you're almost wearing. I approve.” But thanks to the delectable pasta and pizza I’ve been scoffing down for two months, I’m more James Bonzo than James Bond. Anyway, this is the view from the beach bar. Here we rehydrated ourselves with Czech beer between chasing Micah around the beach and in the water. I’ll give this to the Italians: if they don’t have any good domestic beer to serve you, they’ll unashamedly offer you the best foreign stuff. Credit: Sean Ring I tell you all this because I’ve got no good news on the economic or financial front. I’m naturally an optimist, but the latest round of economic numbers leaves me no choice but to remain a bear. Joke Biden and his stupid policies are leading the United States and the entire Western world to ruin. In this edition of the Rude, I’ll break down the woeful inflation numbers, revisit our stock charts, and see where this is all going. Inflating Like a Balloon You already know this by looking at your weekly shopping and fuel bills. But by now, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the actual horror show the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday. Ugly. Just ugly. The headline CPI, the CPI-U, beat the consensus estimates, registering an 8.6% rise year on year. The core CPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy costs, was still up 6.0% year on year. Now is a good time to remind ourselves the Fed’s inflation target is 2.0%. Credit: [BLS]( There’s no mystery why ordinary Americans are struggling with their bills. But it gets worse when you break down the numbers. Kindly, the BLS has done that for us. Credit: [BLS]( This table may be a bit difficult to read on a mobile phone, so I’ll quote from the [BLS’s press release]( The energy index rose 34.6 percent over the past 12 months. The gasoline index increased 48.7 percent over the span. The index for fuel oil more than doubled, rising 106.7 percent; this represents the largest increase in the history of the series, which dates to 1935. What’s worse, but likelier close to what you’re feeling, is John Williams’ inflation assessment over at shadowstats.com: Credit: [shadowstats.com]( Williams computes the CPI the way the BLS used to during the Reagan years. If we still computed our numbers this way, the CPI-U would be north of 15%! When these Argentina-like numbers happen, fiscal and monetary policy failures are evident. But what does it mean for the stock market? Recommended Link [Urgent: Website Giving Away Free Crypto Today!]( [Click here for more...]( Crypto expert, James Altucher, has found a little known website that allows you to collect up to $167 FREE crypto! He’s put together a short [2 minute video clip]( walking you through the easy process on how to get yours. [Click Here To Learn How To Claim Your Free Crypto]( This Isn’t the Bottom You’re Looking For I’d love to write, “This is the bottom. Let’s get bullish!” Alas, I won’t be writing that anytime soon. This is the chart of the S&P 500 as of Friday’s close: After that terrible CPI print, the market tanked on the open and stayed down. It was an awful week, as it gave away the gains of the previous two weeks. The index was down over 5% for the week. Last week was the 10th out of 11 weeks’ worth of down moves. If it walks like a bear and growls like a bear, it’s a bear market. Even if “they” refuse to call it one yet. I think the next stop will be the 3,300 area. My call for 3,213 remains. Say It Enough Times, And It’ll Be True I found this gem on LinkedIn, of all places: I cracked up, because many a true thing is said in jest. This coincided with a friend sending around this article by Caitlin Johnstone. Johnstone is my favorite Socialist ever. She’s from the People’s Republic of Melbourne, inside the People’s Republic of Australia. But she’s the kind of socialist you can have a level-headed conversation with. I prefer honest, logical socialists to pie-in-the-sky libertine lolbertarians, to be honest. The lolbertarians should know better. Here’s a choice quote from her piece titled, “[They Plan On Repeating “Putin’s Price Hike” Until People Believe It]( (bolds mine): President Biden used the phrase “Putin’s price hike” again in a reaction to Friday’s Consumer Price Index report revealing continued high inflation, showing once again that the US government believes Americans are idiots. … Which is of course absurd. Prices were already soaring and inflation was already at a 40-year high before Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February, and there was never anything inscribed upon the fabric of reality which said the US needed to respond to that invasion with an economic war that has made everything worse. The US initiated these unprecedented acts of economic warfare in response to an invasion it could easily have prevented with a little diplomacy, and has managed to do so without even hurting the strength of the ruble at all. There are many people Americans could blame for their shrinking bank accounts, but Putin isn’t one of them. Brilliant. By the way, here’s how the ruble is doing: Yes, the Ruble is more valuable versus the USD than before the Russia-Ukraine War began. And when your middlebrow friends say, “Well, that’s only because of capital controls!” remind them that the Fed manipulates the USD daily. Back to nonsensical economic claims. Here’s Lil’ Bob Reich, unable to read income statements: Bob, let’s do this slowly. Revenue minus expenses equals income. For regular folks, money paid for gas is an expense that lowers income. But for oil companies, money paid for gas is revenue, which increases income. Pretty simple. Napoleon once said, “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.” Gas companies say, “Never interrupt a demented president when he’s making you rich.” And this just in… Crypto Crashes Over the Weekend What a mess crypto is. We’ve learned it isn’t an inflation hedge. We’ve also known crypto is correlated to tech stocks. This isn’t a good sign. Both Bitcoin and Ether have broken through key support levels. And not by a little bit. By the looks of this BTC chart, it’s easy to see it heading to at least $18,000, if not all the way to $11,000. And ETH’s chart is just as bad: There’s nothing between here and $350. That doesn’t mean it’ll get down there. But someone will have to come in and buy big to stop it. Act accordingly. Wrap Up It’s been a wild ride since Friday’s open, with no sign of abating. As I write, Asian equities are down roughly 3% across the board. US equity futures are down between 2 and 3%. The dollar is up, putting pressure on everything priced in dollars. Unless and until the governments of the world cry, “UNCLE!” we’ll remain in this mess. Until tomorrow. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening P.S. If you think my assessment is dire, you should hear what my colleague Jim Rickards has to say about it. I think [you should watch this video]( before Wednesday if you can. This Wednesday, June 15th, there will be another Fed rate announcement. This one may be the real doozy-whopper Mr. Market has been looking for to throw himself off a cliff. Three steps, and a stumble, they say. Well, we’ve already stepped twice this year. And June 15th will be the third step. The Dow is down 17% off its highs right now. Can we see Dow 7,500? [Watch this video]( now to find out. [Whitelist Us]( | [Archive]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Rude Awakening is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. 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