The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Monday, January 23, 2012

RBS: Core producer price inflation was very strong +0.8% in Q4

Interesting from RBS today:

"The core PPI, measured by excluding food and energy, rose by 0.8% after a flat result for Q3. This was the largest rise in the core PPI since Q3 2010. Annual core inflation picked up from 0.6% to 1.6%. Food prices fell by 2.5%, which was the largest fall in the more than twenty years for which we have data (prices were up 4.7% over the preceding three flood-affected quarters). Energy prices rose by 0.8% after a 5.1% rise in Q3...

Measuring underlying inflation as the average of the weighted median CPI, the trimmed mean CPI and the CPI ex-volatile items, we still expect a 0.6% increase in Q4 (market and implied RBA forecast: +0.6%), with some chance of a revision to Q3's estimates of the weighted median and trimmed mean CPIs. If this forecast proves accurate, then the Reserve Bank is likely to keep rates steady in February, barring a significant worsening in the European crisis."
at 2:01 PM