Inflating Inflation

(1) The “fret level.” (2) Trade War Watch: Xi concedes a little, while Trump has second thoughts about TPP. (3) Trump channeling Reagan rather than Hoover on trade. (4) Our fearless leader is impetuous on trade as on other matters. (5) Next fret: Back to worrying about inflation? (6) Rising PPI costs likely to pinch profit margins fattened by tax cuts rather than getting pushed up into CPI. (7) Rising costs mostly attributable to rising commodity prices, particularly oil prices. (8) The Fed sends a memo about inflation to investors: Don’t fret. (9) Overshooting inflation target might not change Fed’s gradual pace of normalization. (10) “Beirut” (+).