January 1st Update – A New Year message and some thoughts on what may be in store for 2020

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Happy New Year to all those who stop by my website. I think for many of my listeners and readers, we viewed 2019 as a prosperous and productive year. Since we need to make hay while the sun shines, we were able to leverage the circumstances in 2019 to fatten up our balance sheets, and while I cannot guarantee that 2020 will provide us with a repeat of such auspicious conditions, we will certainly be more prepared if adversity comes. If we have built up our assets properly during the fat times, we can look to the lean years as opportunities to advance.

Though these numbers may be as a result of thawing trade tensions, if this breakout proves lasting, the Fed may have problems.

-A few thoughts about Fed QE and potential stumbling blocks.
-My concerns about commodity price pressures. My thoughts about rising CPI data.

The breakeven inflation rate represents a measure of expected inflation derived from 10-Year Treasury and 10-Year Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities. The latest value implies what market participants expect inflation to be in the next 10 years, on average.

Links to data and articles-
U.S. Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY
The Fed could face a possible ‘inflation scare’ in 2020 with commodity prices on the rise