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Economy News
The Bls released the Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers this morning.
Since twitter is down my regular charts guy is not an option. I turned to Bluesky and CNBC:
www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/p… PPI increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on the month, the BLS reported Wednesday. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, core PPI increased 0.5%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for increases of 0.3% for both measures.
— Deborah Lynn (@mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.social) March 18, 2026 at 6:43 AM
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- The producer price index, a measure of pipeline costs that producers receive for their products, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on the month. The core PPI was up 0.5%.
- On a 12-month basis, PPI inflation was at 3.4%, the most since February 2025, while core was at 3.9%, according to the BLS.
- Food prices rose 2.4% while energy was up 2.3%. Within food, the index for fresh and dry vegetables soared 48.9%.
For the all-items index, prices rose faster than the 0.5% pace in January. However, the core increase was less than the 0.8% for the prior month.
On a 12-month basis, headline PPI inflation was at 3.4%, the most since February 2025, while core was at 3.9%, according to the BLS. The Federal Reserve targets inflation at 2%.
Stock market futures slipped following the report while Treasury yields were higher. Futures traders pushed out the next Fed interest rate cut until at least December.
CNBC News. 03/18/2026.
The Federal Reserve is meeting today, with Fed Chair Powell expected to speak to reporters @ 2:30 pm D.C., time. Ahead of the fed decision Puddle posted his usual attack on Powell:
Live feed for Powell’s remarks:
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Twitter is back.
How it started:
03/15/2026:
Trump: Their military is defeated . but all you need is a few people dropping mines here and there, and you know you louse it up. We need—I’m demanding that these countries protect their territory. They should help us. pic.twitter.com/1Ptft2xCyT
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
Puddle:
You don’t need their militaries to beat it. But all you need is a few people dropping mines here and there and, you know, you louse it up. So we need, I’m really demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory. It’s the place from which they get their energy, and they should come and they should help us protect it. You could make the case that maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all because we don’t need it. We have a lot of oil.
Roll Call.com. 03/15/2026.
03/16/2026:
Reporter: Are you confident that France will help with the reopening of Strait of Hormuz?
Trump on Strait of Hormuz: We don't need anybody. We're the strongest nation in the world. pic.twitter.com/GelmtWQrB1
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
Puddle:
Yeah. I mean, sure. He’s going to — I think he’s going to help. I mean, I’ll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is we don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them.
But it’s interesting. I’m almost doing it, in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react. Because I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won’t be there. Not all of them, but they won’t be there. I was very surprised with the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom, two weeks ago, I said, why don’t you send some ships over?
And he really didn’t want to do it. I said, you don’t want to do it? We’ve been with you — you’re our oldest ally and we spend a lot of money on NATO and all of these things to protect you. I mean, we’re protecting them. We’re working with them on Ukraine. Ukraine’s thousands of miles away, separated by a vast ocean.
We don’t have to do that, but we did it — well, Biden did it. I mean, I have to be honest with you. Biden got taken to the cleaners. But we worked with them in Ukraine. We don’t need to work with them in Ukraine and then they tell us that we have a mine ship around and they don’t want to do it. I think it’s terrible.
No, I would — I was very surprised. I told him, you know, we requested two aircraft carriers, which they had, and he didn’t really want to do it. And then right after the war essentially ended — meaning they were obliterated — he said, I would like to send the aircraft carriers. I said, I don’t need them after the war has ended and won. I need it before the war.
So I was very upset with — not upset. I was not happy with the UK.
Roll Call.com. 03/16/2026.
Reporter: Can you tell us which countries are on their way?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
Trump: I rather not say yet. We have some that are really enthusiastic, they're coming already, they've already started to get there. It takes a little while to get there pic.twitter.com/84e8mNfuhq
Puddle: Yes, please. CNN. Aye-yi-yi.
Reporter: Thank you, Mr. President. I’m not CNN, I’m Daily Wire, but thank you for the question.
Puddle: Go ahead.
Reporter: Numerous countries have told me they are on their way. Can you give us a hint what they are, what that entails, how soon they might be there?
Puddle: You mean who are the countries?
Reporter: Yes, sir.
Puddle: I’d rather not say yet, but we’ll be announcing. Marco Rubio and the various people that are doing that will be announcing. And I have to tell you, we have some that are really enthusiastic. They’re coming already. They’ve already started to get there. You know, it takes a little while to get there.
It’s like, in some cases, you have to travel an ocean. So it doesn’t go that fast, but it’ll go fast, and we have some that are fairly local that are doing it. But we’ll give you a list.
Roll Call.com. 03/16/2026.
How it’s going:
03/17/2026:
French President Emmanuel Macron is already signaling France wants no part of this, saying they “will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context.”
The briefing is in French; I translated the text:
President Macron (03:29):
We are not party to the conflict, and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Hormuz Strait in the current context.
However, we are convinced that once the situation calms down… and I’m drawing this up, this term is broad enough… once the situation is calmer, that is to say once the core of the bombing has ceased, we are ready, along with other nations, to take responsibility for the escort system.
But it’s a whole process involving both political and technical aspects, with obviously all the players in maritime transport, including insurers and operational staff, that we need to build.
We have begun discussions with India, as well as with several other European and regional partners. This work will require discussions and de-escalation with Iran, because under no circumstances can this be an operation of force.
So it needs to be built in the coming days and weeks, but it’s a mission that we are prepared to ensure: the freedom of movement of both container ships and tankers, which must therefore be completely separate from the ongoing war operations.
Translated transcript via YouTube auto generate text. 03/17/2026.
03/18/2026:
But sure, we don’t need their help.
That’s a wrap.
This is an Open Thread
