Quick News Update: Inflation Report Surprise

We have a quick news update on today's inflation report. Investors have been waiting anxiously to see if inflation hit a peak in June and is now headed down, prompting the Fed to slow down on rate hikes. Well, we have good news. The report on the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, shows a bigger-than-expected decline in July. It shows that the annual rate of inflation dropped from 9.1% to 8.5%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a reading of 8.7%. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. The decrease was mostly due to a big drop in gas prices. The report says the gasoline index was down 7.7% which offset a rise in food and housing costs. When you look at the broader category of energy, that was down 4.6% because of a drop in gasoline and natural gas prices, but the index for electricity was higher. (1) The core rate of inflation, which excludes food and fuel, remained the same as it was in June at 5.9%, but that was a better reading than economists had expected. Shelter accounts for about 40% of the core rate and that was up 5.7% on an annual basis. Economists and stock traders had been predicting another .75% rate hike in September to help control inflation. But as CNBC reports, they now believe there's a better chance for just a half point rate hike. (2) Louis Navellier said in his podcast that he believes it could be a 75 basis rate hike still, but that it will most likely be the last one because it's rare to see rate hikes before an election. If that's the case, he's expecting a big stock market rally after September 21st. The Chief Economist at Jeffries, Aneta Markowska, told CNBC: "Things are moving in the right direction. This is the most encouraging report we've had in quite some time." She also agrees that it will take some pressure off Federal Reserve officials at their next meeting. You'll find a link to the full report in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. Please remember to hit the subscribe button, and leave a review! Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke. Links: 1 -https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 2 -https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/10/consumer-prices-rose-8point5percent-in-july-less-than-expected-as-inflation-pressures-ease-a-bit.html