The Sy Hersh effect: killing the messenger, ignoring the message

Savings Rate Slides As Fed's Favorite Inflation Gauge Slowed In February (Ahead Of War) The Fed's favorite inflation indicator - Core PCE (a measure of price changes in consumer goods and services that excludes volatile food and energy costs) - rose 0.4% MoM in February (pre-war), in line with expectations, with YoY rising 3.0% (as expected - lowest since Dec), down from January's +3.1%... Source: Bloomberg The YoY Core decline is coming off January's highest level since March 2024, with Services cost inflation slowing notably... The headline PCE also rose 0.4% MoM (as...

US Treasury Extends Russian Crude Waiver Amid Supply Disruptions Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration renewed a key sanctions waiver on April 17, allowing countries to purchase Russian oil stranded at sea, responding to urgent pressure from Asian nations battered by skyrocketing energy costs. The move also reverses a position Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had stated two days earlier. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 134B on Friday, authorizing transactions tied to Russian crude and petroleum products loaded onto vessels as of that...

Despite 'Survey' Sadness, Jobless Claims Slide Near Historic Lows The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time fell to just 207k (below the 213k expected and down from the prior 209.25k) - back near its lowest levels in 5 years (and trend towards its lowest level in 50 years)... Source: Bloomberg Despite a small pick up last week, Continuing jobless claims have been below the 1.9 million Maginot Line since the start of the year... Source: Bloomberg Finally, as the following chart suggests, while it may be "hard to get"...