A SHARP REVERSAL SIGNALS A POTENTIALLY DEFLATIONARY SHOCK
As important as the reversal in the CCI, what may be more critical is the rate at which it is falling since its abrupt reversal. The drop is significant and concerning.
We can also see that though the PPI trend lags, it reverses sooner when the CCI is signalling a reversal of 9 months out. This is to be expected as markets normally price out 6-8 months. The question is has this already occurred?
As we showed in the last newsletter, rapidly rising commodity prices have already been witnessed and many are at extreme historical levels from a year earlier:
- Gasoline: $1.77 now vs. $3 a year ago.
- Lumber: $332 per 1,000 board feet now vs. $1,570 per 1,000 board feet a year ago.
- Home sales: $283,500 now vs. $329,100 a year ago.
- Coffee: $0.96 a pound now vs. $1.50 a pound a year ago.
- Wheat: $5 a bushel now vs. $7.42 a year ago.
- Corn: $3.19 a bushel now vs. $7.22 a bushel a year ago.
- Copper: $2.33 a pound now vs. $4.76 a pound a year ago.
The CCI has a fairly good correlation against the overall US CRB Index but with a 16 month lead (shown below). It is fair to say that commodities have spiked dramatically ahead of the CCI.