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, February 20, 2012

US and Canadian core inflation on rise again...

US and Canadian core inflation on rise again...UBS reports:

* CH: The PBC cut RRR by 50bps (to 20.5% for the big banks), effective 24 Feb...

* US: CPI rose 0.2% in Jan (cons 0.3%); core CPI rose 0.2% (cons 0.2%). The core is at 2.3% y/y, close enough to Fed targets that the earlier FOMC concerns about slowing prices should diminish. Over last 3 months, core CPI has risen at 2.2% annualised, up from 1.7% in Nov.

* EU: Japan and China agreed to "coordinate closely" and "jointly respond" to any new funding request from the IMF to help the euro zone (Reuters).

* UK: Retail sales volume rose by 0.9% in January (1.2% ex-fuel), well above market expectations of -0.3% (after 0.6%). Detail shows a relatively broad based recovery in the non-food sector. The data supports our view that the MPC will not expand its QE beyond May.

* CA: Canadian CPI rose 0.4% in January (consensus 0.3%), rising to 2.5% y/y from 2.3% . Core prices rose 0.2% m/m (consensus 0.1%), edging up to 2.1% y/y from 1.9%.
at 7:48 AM