Category Archives: Inflation

New Treasury Floating-Rate Notes: Bad deal for small investors?

The Treasury Department said today it will hold its first Floating-Rate Note auction on Jan. 29. These 2-year-term FRNs are a new product, and are drawing a lot of attention as a possible replacement or add-on to fixed-income holdings like … Continue reading

Posted in I Bond, Inflation, Investing in TIPS | 7 Comments

U.S. inflation rises a meek 0.1% in May

U.S. inflation continued at a mild pace in May, rising just 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis and creating a ‘headline’ inflation rate of 1.4% over the last 12 months. Here’s the summary report. The non-seasonally adjusted number was 0.2%, … Continue reading

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Should TIPS holders root for higher inflation?

Interesting article today in the Wall Street Journal, with the enticing headline: ‘TIPS Investors Rush for Exit.’ Here’s the premise: A surprise drop in gasoline prices has jolted a corner of the bond market, easing investors’ inflation fears and triggering … Continue reading

Posted in Inflation, Investing in TIPS | 1 Comment

U.S. inflation fell 0.2% in March

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that ‘headline’ inflation – the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) – fell 0.2% in March on a seasonally-adjusted basis, partly reversing the sharp 0.7% increase in February. That means … Continue reading

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Higher gas prices pushed consumer inflation up 0.6% in September

The Labor Department today reported that ‘headline’ inflation – the measure used to adjust the principal on TIPS and the interest rate on I Bonds – rose a strong 0.6% in September, the second strong increase in two months. Read … Continue reading

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