Posted on 03/16/2012 8:57:33 AM PDT by tobyhill
U.S. consumer prices rose by the most in 10 months in February as the cost of gasoline spiked, a government report showed on Friday, but there was little sign that underlying inflation pressures were building up.
The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent after advancing 0.2 percent in January. That was in line with economists' expectations. Gasoline accounted for more than 80 percent of the rise in consumer prices last month, the department said.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
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Iran is going to take over the world.
The refineries need maintenance
The speculators are doing it
We're running out of oil
We have plenty
Americans are driving less, so we need to raise prices
The Chinese have millions of mopeds to fuel
There is a leak in a pipe in Moose Jaw Alaska
A rodent chewed through a line at the main pump station in Texas.
Demand is down but we are producing more however, our refineries have been and are being shut down
Prices will go to 6.75, but 3 days before the election, Obama will lower prices to 1.40 to ensure reelection
A school of endangered blowfish have been sucked into a pipe, and it takes time to get them out.
Iran has nukes
Unstable markets worldwide.
A big refinery fire
A small refinery fire
A refinery fire could possibly happen
New gas additives are being developed to make Americans even more stupid
They forgot to build a pipe
They don’t like pipes
Rich liberals want the price even higher.
Obama hates the oil industry
The oil industry hates Obama and are hoping this kills his reelection
Liberals want everyone ridding donkeys and bicycles to work as a sacrifice for the planet
We moved more armaments to the gulf because Iran is taking over the world
Wild money printing and massive deficits
Americans love high gas prices
Refinery margins are tight…They hardly make any money at all.
The masses have no idea how free market works.
It is being exported because we are making more than we use.
Demand has fallen
We need refinery upgrades and expansion
We are making more than we use so we have to sell it to the Chinese, (They have 1 billion mopeds to fuel , and need to go to work so they can send us more Communist products .
We have plenty of oil, so much so, we need to sell it abroad to keep prices low.
We have plenty of oil, so much so, we need to sell it abroad to keep prices high.
Barry intentionally pissed off the oil companies and seriously limited their profit
The population has increased
The less people drive the higher the price, so you need to drive more.
This is caused by warm weather.
It’s caused by cold weather.
We are importing less crude oil and even become an exporter of refined products.
High gas prices have creates jobs and wealth in the US, so we need to export more oil.
High gas prices are good for the economy. When it reaches $6 per gallon, America will be back on track.
It's already happening from time to time.
Saw a bin full of 5 pound rolls of 73/27% hamburger at Kroger's reduced from $11.25 to $5.95 twice in the last month.
It had an expiration date on it of two days away.
I think it’s something like 25% of household income goes to food and gas so if an item cost $3 a year ago but now cost $4 that is a 25% increase which relates to over a 6% inflationary rate based on income. I don’t know of any item at the grocery store that has actually decreased in price.
That’s a case where inflation is there but you don’t see it because it’s being absorbed by the store and they figure they’ll throw in the cheap meat at a cheap price to you for a loss to them just to get you in the store.
And this is also how the ministry of propaganda are trumpeting Obama's lie (technically true) that under his rule, domestic production of oil is the highest it's been in 8 years. What he's conveniently leaving out of the discussion is that production on government licensed land and off-shore is down by about 24%, which along with the worthless dollar, is driving up the cost. So it's becoming MORE profitable for drilling on private land, and it's been expanding by more than 25%.
Imagine what would happen to oil prices had the US government allowed increased production on licensed land, or even allowing the licenses. We'd have plenty of oil, and prices would plummet, which is something that Obama and his minions DO NOT WANT.
Mark
Is it just me, or does it seem that the board at AAPL is keeping the price of their stock artificially high?
Think about it. This is a company FLUSH with cash. And stock prices are astronomical. In the last 5 years of so it's gone from less than $100 to nearly $600. But the last stock split from AAPL was in 2005, and they haven't issued a dividend since 1995. It seems that they're trying to keep their stock prices artificially high, but maybe that's just me.
Mark
From CPI FAQs
What goods and services does the CPI cover?
The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:
FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, full service meals, snacks)
HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners’ equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)
APPAREL (men’s shirts and sweaters, women’s dresses, jewelry)
TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)
MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians’ services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)
RECREATION (televisions, toys, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);
EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);
OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).
Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services.
The CPI does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance. (These items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses.)
For each of the more than 200 item categories, using scientific statistical procedures, the Bureau has chosen samples of several hundred specific items within selected business establishments frequented by consumers to represent the thousands of varieties available in the marketplace. For example, in a given supermarket, the Bureau may choose a plastic bag of golden delicious apples, U.S. extra fancy grade, weighing 4.4 pounds to represent the Apples category.
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_7
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Which index is the “Official CPI” reported in the media?
Our broadest and most comprehensive CPI is called the All Items Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the U.S. City Average, 1982-84 = 100.
In addition to the All Items CPI, BLS publishes thousands of other consumer price indexes. One such index is called “All items less food and energy”. Some users of CPI data use this index because food and energy prices are relatively volatile, and these users want to focus on what they perceive to be the “core” or “underlying” rate of inflation.
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_13
Thanks for clarifying that, thackney. Interesting that the clarification raises the question of how easily the administration can game the index numbers by switching indexes. I didn’t realize there were many different ones, but had commonly heard the phrase “excluding the volatile food and fuel sectors” when the CPI was discussed.
Any time a single CPI is announced from BLS, it is inclusive of all. All the others have stated exclusions or added descriptions.
On blogs and other tinfoil hat sites, you can find them referencing the core as the main.
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