Other than bone-heads on Wall Street, probably not. People care about the price of ground beef, whether the Lions will beat the Bills this Sunday, how much money it coast to fill up their gas tank (a number that's been going steadily down, thankfully), and maybe what their kids are learning in the state-run indoctrination centers otherwise known as public schools.
In any case, October CPI was relatively tame, and nobody batted an eyelash, buying stocks until their eyes bled.
In October, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 2.6 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in October (SA); up 3.3 percent over the year (NSA).
So, November CPI was expected to fall in line and maybe drop a bit. The reality:
In November, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 2.7 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in November (SA); up 3.3 percent over the year (NSA).
The big takeaway from the 8:30 am ET release was that food at home (bought in grocery stores) was up 0.5% and the shelter component (rent, mortgage, etc.) was up 0.3%. Yep, Americans are still getting squeezed. It cost more to maintain a home and to eat. Lovely.
So, the monthly rate and annual rate was up 0.1% and we're supposed to care? Wash, rinse, repeat. Nobody is going to base buying or selling stocks, budgeting for Christmas or turning the thermostat up or down based on this number, but, it gives the simpletons on CNBC, Bloomberg, and FoxBusiness something to talk about and maybe the Fed will notice, but they probably won't change their minds about cutting the federal funds target rate another 0.25% a week from today.
There are more important items that the mainstream media doesn't even mention. One of them is the fate of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its implementing regulations. In case you haven't heard of this law, passed as part of the NDAA in 2021, it requires small businesses with fewer than 20 employees and a beneficial owner's interest (BOI) of more than 25% of the company to register with FinCEN (the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).
It's estimated that 32 million businesses fall into this denial of privacy trap set by congress. Most businesses were supposed to have registered between January 1 and December 31 of this year. Many small businesses don't even know the law exists, though quite a few were convinced by their lawyers and/or accountants that registration was a necessity because not doing so might open them up to fines of $500 a day and possibly up to two years in prison.
Well, not withstanding that the law was unnecessary and a burden on people running small businesses across the great expanse of America - like barber shops, restaurants, retail stores, online merchants, etc. - a lot of people sheepishly caved to yet another over-the-top demand from los federales and fell into compliance, giving up their right of privacy to the overbearing, out-of-control government.
That was all well and good until Judge Amos L. Mazzant III in the Eastern District of Texas U.S. Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction, halting the process in its tracks, on grounds that the plaintiffs in the case of TEXAS TOP COP SHOP, INC., ET AL., v. MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL., had satisfied the court with their arguments enough to enjoin the Government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act and its Implementing Regulations.
Essentially, what the judge granted stops the CTA in its tracks. Businesses are no longer compelled to register with FinCEN. The government even went so far as to issue a statement on its website, to wit:
In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.
How nice of them, allowing companies to voluntarily submit to deprivation of privacy. The government is appealing the ruling and there’s other litigation ongoing, but, considering the degree of competence (none) in Merrick Garland's DoJ, the chances that the government will prevail appear slight.
Attorneys Kyle Fonjemie and Anthony J. Zeoli on Hinshaw Law authored a concise summary of the ruling and its implications.
Effectively, should the law be eventually ruled unconstitutional (which it almost surely is), the millions of business owners who submitted their information to the department of government overreach should have those records expunged.
There are even bills pending in both the House and Senate which seek to repeal the CTA. Backed by the NFIB, which was a party to the Texas lawsuit, H.R.8147 - Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act would accomplish that task and send a message to congress that the American public and individual states are not their playthings.
The House bill has 92 co-sponsors. Senate bill S.4297 is identical to the House bill.
There's more to this unfolding saga which will be addressed in this blog in Sunday's WEEKEND WRAP.
Getting back to the CPI and the loonies that slavishly follow this stuff, stock futures went up like 4th of July fireworks on the announcement because they were "in line" with forecasts. Yeah, only Wall Street cares about this stuff. Meanwhile, eggs, steaks, milk, and rent continue to become out of reach for the average household.
Buy more stocks. The Fed's got this.
At the Close, Tuesday, December 10, 2024:
Dow: 44,247.83, -154.10 (-0.35%)
NASDAQ: 19,687.24, -49.45 (-0.25%)
S&P 500: 6,034.91, -17.94 (-0.30%)
NYSE Composite: 19,881.90, -124.36 (-0.62%)
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