Earlier today the installed current occupant of the White House delivered remarks and held a brief press conference to discuss the latest Russian entrance into Ukraine.  Simultaneously, the White House also released their latest sanctions on Russia [SEE HERE]

For well over a month Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the White House and State Department have promoted the assembly of “harsh sanctions” as the deterrent that would keep Russia out of Ukraine.  However, when Biden was questioned by the media about the ineffectiveness of sanctions he declared, “no one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening.”  WATCH (prompted):

[Transcript Available Here]

Russia knows from watching Biden execute his domestic energy and regulatory policy, that Joe Biden has no intention to do anything that would support U.S. energy development.  As a consequence, Putin knows the U.S. will remain dependent on OPEC where Russia is a member.

Additionally, Europe writ large, and Germany specifically, are dependent on Russia’s oil and natural gas.  Underneath all of the saber rattling from the U.S. and NATO allies this truth remains Putin’s biggest weapon.  In essence, Putin is leveraging the western ‘global climate change’ and energy initiatives as a weapon to do whatever he wants to do, while knowing his adversaries have no options.

As the proverbial ‘west’ chases the Build Back Better climate change agenda, it becomes a structural weakness that Vladimir Putin knows he can exploit.

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First, I did not anticipate Russia going beyond their allied region in Eastern Ukraine. I was wrong.  It appears Vladimir Putin is going for the whole enchilada as reports indicate his military operations are positioned to capture all of Ukraine, specifically the western Ukraine areas under control of the U.S. State Department.

Second, with all the prior Ukraine issues serving as a reference, it is important to remember that every media outlet in the U.S. machinery of information is untrustworthy.

U.S. intelligence manipulated information, some call misinformation and disinformation, is rampant as the U.S. has specific motives for everything that takes place in Ukraine.

In many ways Ukraine is a vassal state of U.S. leftist politics.

Ukraine has been a satellite operation for the U.S. State Department for approximately 15 to 20 years.  The U.S. has held control over Ukraine, and manipulated every political outcome inside Ukraine, for well over a decade.  This reality is the source of Vladimir Putin’s angst toward the west for the same amount of time, and it’s the same reason why the EU, specifically Germany, is tenuous in any collaborative response.

The EU, writ large (including NATO), are less interested in Ukraine, because they know Ukraine is the U.S. playground in Europe.  This truism explains why we see a conflict when it comes to responses and sanctions from the U.S. compared to the European NATO allies.

The outcome is along the line of NATO countries telling us, Ukraine is our playground, the issues are our creation, therefore when it comes to responsive action – you do you and we will look out for ourselves, but we in the EU have to live with the reality of the outcome, so our interests will likely diverge from yours depending on what Putin intends.

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The previously planned Russian training exercises [Announcement Here] have been completed in Belarus – close to neighboring Ukraine. Today those troops began returning to their places of regular deployment as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

As a result, the Biden manufactured ‘wag the dog‘ scenario, a fabricated ‘Russia invading Ukraine‘ premise by the White House, U.S. Dept of State, Pentagon and intelligence apparatus, needs to come to an end quickly.

After pretending that Russia was going to invade Ukraine in an effort to manufacture a political win out of thin air, Joe Biden will declare today he saved the world.

(New York Times) President Biden will speak on the Ukraine crisis at the White House this afternoon. Western analysts said it was too early to say if the announced troop movements were meaningful, but it might be a sign that Russia is stepping back from the threat of invasion.

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Here we go folks. Jumpin’ ju-ju-bones, the first wave of producer driven inflation has just been quantified.  The economic analysts are shocked, stunned, flabbergasted and surprised, because the January single month wholesale inflation of 1.0% is double what they expected.

The “producer price index” is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released January price data [Available Here] showing a dramatic 9.7% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.

Check out the single month wholesale price increases in these categories [Table 2]: Beef jumped 6.5% in January (43.9% for year). Gasoline jumped 1.9% in January, (53.9% for year).  Diesel fuel jumped 9.4% in January (56.5% for year). Cooking oil 4.7% in January (36.4% for year).  Home heating oil jumped 7.3% in January (47.4% for year).  Pasta jumped 3.0% in January (16.2% for year). Tires jumped 4.6% in January (9.0% for year). Wholesale cleaning supplies jumped 3.8% in January (34.9% for year).

Unfortunately, there is nothing upstream in the supply chain and manufacturing pipeline to suggest that higher prices at the retail level are not coming.  The price of raw materials, and the wholesale energy costs to process those materials into finished goods, are still rising.

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Gasoline prices have risen, on average, 40% in the past 11 months.  This leads to higher consumer costs across the board.  Oil, currently $90/barrel, is going to go even higher as a merge of Biden economic, regulatory, energy and foreign policies are going to make things worse.

As the Obama-Biden administration previously said when they achieved their last historic increase in gas prices, “U.S. energy prices will necessarily skyrocket“, in order to achieve their ideological climate change objectives.

(VIA CNBC) Gas prices rose to the highest level in more than seven years Friday, on the heels of the U.S. oil benchmark topping $90 per barrel for the first time since 2014. 

The national average for a gallon of gas stood at $3.423 on Friday, according to AAA, slightly surpassing the prior high-water mark of $3.422 from Nov. 8.  Friday’s price means consumers are now paying the most at the pump since Sept. 10, 2014, AAA data shows.

The national average stood at $2.44 a year ago.  The rapid rise in prices is contributing to inflationary fears across the economy and is creating a headache for the Biden administration. (read more)

Yes, a president can and does control the price of gasoline.  What can a U.S. President and administration specifically do?  We have abundant U.S. energy resources.  Quite literally the strongest in the entire world.

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One of the biggest and most frequently stated lies in American media and financial punditry; motivated entirely by their alignment with the hoax of global climate change; is that a United States President can do nothing about gasoline prices.  This is an oft familiar claim by the political left, media pundits, financial media and leftist economists.  It is one of the more transparently false assertions in their arsenal of deceit.

CNN reports that gas prices are rising again as the White House occupant’s inflation and supply chain crises persist, during a segment on CNN’s “New Day” with John Berman and Brianna Keila.  WATCH:

So, what can a U.S. President and administration specifically do?  We have abundant U.S. energy resources.  Quite literally the strongest in the entire world.

• Permit the use of preexisting approved leases in ANWAR (Alaska) to put more volume into the Alaskan oil pipeline that is severely underutilized.
• Finish the Dakota access pipeline.
• Re-approve the preexisting energy leases in New Mexico, Arizona, NE Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
• Retract the stoppage of the Keystone pipeline to permit efficient oil transport shipments from Canada.
• Stop blocking the expansion of coastal oil refineries in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama (regulatory issue), as well as Northwest, Northeast and Southeast Seaboard.
• Continue to develop natural gas as a clean burning fuel.
• Drive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as an export.

Unfortunately, this would mean reversing the entire energy policy of the current administration.  The existing energy inflation and high prices of oil, natural gas and gasoline are a direct and intentional part of Joe Biden policy.  That policy is driven by the leftist demand for a “green new deal.”

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Whoever said God doesn’t have a sense of humor did not foresee Glenn Beck broadcasting a President Trump interview at the same time that Texas Senator Ted Cruz is saying the January 6th protesters are “domestic terrorists who need to be jailed for a very long time.”   LOL

President Trump granted Glenn Beck a lengthy interview on the anniversary of January 6.  The best part of this interview is President Trump saying all this sh!t that Biden is doing can be fixed quickly.  [He’s right]  WATCH:

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Joe Biden makes no sense, and unfortunately Joe Biden doesn’t know he makes no sense.  Instead, the current installed occupant in the White House just shouts about talking points the champagne socialists bring up at their cocktail parties.

Overall inflation is crushing the middle class on a cross-sectional scale I have never before witnessed in my lifetime.  Every sector of the economy on Main Street is simultaneously under fire from unavoidable massive increases in prices on all types of goods.

Food, fuel, energy, gasoline, transportation, raw materials, every single sector is under massive inflationary pressure.  Biden believes that he can offset these massive costs to the average American worker by providing subsidies for some childcare, some education and some prescription costs.  He really believes this, yet everything about this subsidized cost approach is wrong.   Listen to the longer version of his explanation (3 minutes):

Despite the popularity of these leftist talking points, there’s no truth to them.

The government cannot subsidize its way to prosperity by redistributing the wealth of workers.  The government cannot stop inflation and simultaneously print money. The high cost of childcare is not keeping women out of the workforce.  Nothing is free from the federal government.  The federal government earns no income, it confiscates the income of workers.

The “17 Nobel Laureate” economists he proclaims support his Build Back Better deal to reduce costs for the middle class are the same “17 Nobel Laureate” economists who claimed, wrongly, inflation was “transitory” six months ago.  They have since retracted their prior claims, because it was all based on nonsensical Wall Street propaganda.

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The Commerce Department November retail sales data was release today [DATA HERE] – [DETAIL pdf HERE].  The top line issue is a shocking drop in retail sales for November in key categories that align with previous discussion of inflation spending priorities for all U.S. consumers.

Before getting to the data, one point is critical to remember.  The commerce department sales figures are based on dollars spent. This point is important, because the items being purchased have inflation within them.  When prices are higher due to inflation, sales figures should be higher due to higher prices.  Ex. If there is an 8% increase in retail price, but only a 4% increase in retail sales, that means less stuff is being sold.  [Less units sold at a higher price gives the illusion of an increase in sales.]

Despite the start of the traditional holiday sales and shopping period, the total sales growth in November was 0.3% over October [Column A].  Factoring in inflation during the same month to month comparison at 0.9%, you can tell that overall in November there was a drop in units sold across the total of retail sales outlets.

A drop in sales at a time when holiday shopping should be taking place is concerning.  However, the sales reality aligns with the employment data last week showing a drop of 20,000 workers in the retail sector for November.  Put them together, and the picture shows retailers did not need employees, because consumers are not spending.

If we look deeper into the November sales figures, we can see that a contraction in discretionary spending is the primary issue. Electronics (-4.6%), Department Stores (-5.4%) and even online sales at ZERO.  We can also see a direct correlation in comparative inflation impact within the sales data for November 2021 when compared to November 2020 [Column B].

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We said it was happening {Go Deep}, and it is.  Last month CTH put the preparation window at 60 days +/- depending on region.  That window is now around 30 days before the next spike in inflation shows up from cumulative costs snowballing throughout the supply chain. The “producer price index” is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate and Final.

The final product inflation rate in July (reported in August) was alarming at 7.8%. However, we warned it would get worse. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) then released stunning price data for October [DATA Here], showing an even more dramatic 8.6% price increase in final demand. More intense warnings shared.

Today, we get the November BLS Result [DATA Here], and unfortunately the results are showing what was expected.  The cumulative costs of massive increases in energy prices are building into the supply at an astonishing rate.  The November data shows a rate of wholesale final goods inflation at 9.6%, the largest single month comparative rate increase in history.

The bureau even went back and revised/increased the August price index from 7.8 to 8.4 percent, and revised/increased the October figure from 8.6 to 8.8 percent.  The average monthly price increase is almost a full percent… every month.  It looks like the BLS backward revisions are an attempt to smooth down the rate of increase.

(BLS) – “The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.8 percent in November, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices moved up 0.6 percent in each of the 3 prior months. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index rose 9.6 percent for the 12 months ended in November, the largest advance since 12-month data were first calculated in November 2010.” (more)

I modified Table A (final demand product pricing), taking out some of the noise to make it a little easier to see the big picture of what is happening.

When you see the wholesale level of prices almost double the increase in consumer level inflation rate, you can predict that consumer prices will likely go even higher.  Future finished goods, at a retail level, will carry the current wholesale price increase.

Stuff costs a lot now… and because the inbound stuff to make the finished goods is still climbing in price…. stuff is about to cost even more.   You can see this in the inflation rate of intermediate goods which I have highlighted below.

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