主题：03/17/2009 Market View -- 宁子

PPI shows decent action but is worrisome.

The numbers themselves were not that terrible. A 0.1% rise overall versus a 0.4% gain and a 0.8% rise in January. The core double expectations, but at 0.2% it was not a huge miss and it was down from January's 0.4%. Gasoline made up 8.7% of the overall gain. Hello? Hydrogen car people? Please hurry up the process because I sure don't want to bay $3.50 to $4/gallon gasoline again this summer.

What is the burr in the saddle is that prices are not dropping as much as they fell in prior recessions, even the most recent. This recession by all accounts is worse than any in decades but prices are not falling at the same rates.

Meaning? Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. Prices are not falling fast perhaps because there is some inflation pressure still lingering. That makes sense given all of the massive spending during the Bush years and now the insanely large amounts being thrown at everything by the Obama Administration including its cajoling to get the G20 nations to do the same. Worrisome.

LIBOR and now corporate debt looking better.

LIBOR fell to 1.30% on the 3-month and to 0.31% overnight (from 0.33%). The slow but steady drip, drip, drip, continues.

PFE showed that other aspects of the credit market are in better shape as well. It offered $15B in corporate bonds to help fund its Wyeth purchase and it enjoyed great response. Excellent to see this development, i.e. a corporation able to move debt issues.