Happy Halloween

When I open the link to my brokerage firm (a discount one, of course), I see a banner that tells me that J.D. Power ranks it first among "self directed" investment brokers. I'm not bragging here, they are. And about what?

I gave up caring what awards someone or something has garnered a long time ago. They are essentially as meaningless as the political polls we see touted by news organizations. I don't know why anyone puts stock in them. I now add the CPI and inflation news to that category.

It is non-sensical. They tell us inflation is low:

U.S. consumer prices rise, but underlying inflation benign

But it isn't. They have just manipulated the data. Is it benign to see coffee in smaller quantities but with higher prices? Is it benign to see gasoline at $3.30 a gallon (and above $3.00 for the last year)? Do you like paying over $2.00 for a loaf of bread? The cost of food has gone up, the cost of everything has gone up. And not gently or slowly but in leaps and bounds. Nothing seems stable these past few years except increases in the prices of just about everything.

Meanwhile, as a retired person, I am trying to live on a "fixed" income. I have lived through periods of inflation before, in the midst of the late 70's I re-located from San Diego to West Palm Beach. I assumed a loan on a house that ran 13% and it was a VA loan... cheaper than I could have found available elsewhere. My income wasn't fixed at the time but it only went up once a year and did not cover anywhere near the inflation rate at the time.

Now I know that "fixed" equates to "broke" when it comes to income. And, as things are going up, my income is not.

Scary.