DECISION MAKING

Anyone who thinks real inflation is anywhere near being below two percent is still suffering from a bad case of birth canal trauma.

Those fontenelles, or soft spots in the fetal skull, are suppose to remain flexible to allow undamaged passage through the birth canal during delivery. It's obvious in some cases that never happens.

And that's probably another good reason to mandate C-sections for any mother suspected of wanting her offspring to grow up and become a bureaucrat or politician.

Most people recognize that the Consumer Price Index is cooked. Over the years it's been changed so often to keep out the disturbing stuff it should be called the Chameleon Price Index.

Meanwhile, back at the big economic Eurozone ranch, it looks as if ECB President Mario "Whatever It Takes" Draghi suffered another shot across his leadership bow. According to the Financial Times, Eurozone inflation is getting lower than a fat duck's belly.

A closely watched gauge of inflation rates expected by financial markets has fallen to the lowest on record, dealing another blow to Mario Draghi, European Central Bank President.

The rate their talking about is that expected over five years starting in five years' time fell, per the Times, quoting Barclays data based on swap rates, to 1.88 percent. The euro swaps market came about as recently as 10 years ago and the above rate is below the previous low close in 2010.

So the data, to begin with, is fairly short. But we'll let that slip for now. And these people, mostly university-trained economists, can't predict next week let alone something as ridiculous as "five years starting in five years time." At the very least this is good Jimmy Kimmel Live material.

Draghi may have brought this problem on himself. Earlier this year at the annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, economic bigwig confab, he mentioned the "five year-five year" inflation gauge. The leech-infested MSM glommed onto the term and now off we go.

There are several caveats here, but first another quote from the article. 

By keeping inflation expectations in line with their target central bankers aim to affect pricing behaviour and keep actual inflation rates under control.

Now read that sentence three times and then ask yourself if you smell anything that starts with an "m" and ends with an "n" as in manipulation?

Monetary policy is the purest of pure manipulation. So here are two questions we'll leave you with.

1. Why should self-respecting investors believe anything that MSM parrots?

2. Why would any self-respecting investor believe that gold and energy markets right now are not being manipulated?

You'll have to answer those questions for yourself and come la cara to la cara with something most humans loathe, making decisions.
t. man hatter