The Blubber

Per Reuters

In January, the Customer Price Index increased to 5.6%, but after a 0.4% increase, it now sits at a whopping 6%. These did not include food and energy prices in the computation.

Spartan Capital Securities LLC chief market economist Peter Cardillo gave a statement regarding how the numbers were not worse than initially expected and that the recent market movements were considered good news.

Cardillo: "This puts the Fed on hold because the numbers were not worse than expected. The fact that the core rate was actually kicked down a little bit is good news. So they're going to have to respond to the banking crisis that's probably just not over yet."

Cardillo then said that he doesn't think that the Feds will raise next week, but should they decide to do so, the chief market economist expects there to be a small 25 basis point increase only.

Cherry Lane Investments partner, Rick Meckler, gave another statement regarding how it was expected and that the fear was for "anything that is very exaggerated." Meckler also mentioned the regional banks crisis.

Meckler: "The regional banks crisis has changed some of the focus... as to what options are available to fight inflation in the near term. It's helpful to not feel pressure for a continued dramatic rate rise. That's why the market is reacting positively."

This was far from the July 2022 numbers when the CPI hit its highest percentage in 40 years at 9.1%. This came as certain categories saw massive price increases, like fuel oil increasing by 98.5%, gasoline increasing by 59.9%, and electricity increasing by 13.7%.

In other news, big banks saw an increase in volume as more people started opening accounts. JPMorgan Chase reportedly saw billions of dollars in recent days amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Citizens Financial Group reportedly expanded its branch hours to cater to the increased prospective new customers.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• CPI hits 9.1%, highest in 40 years
• Big banks say they are seeing increase in volume of people opening accounts

Resources:

Reuters