Wall Street was holding its breath ahead of this morning's inflation data - and now, it's breathing easier. Stocks are rallying, bonds are stabilizing alongside gold and silver, and the dollar is modestly weaker.
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Now, let's talk about those numbers. Economists expected the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) to rise 0.2% in July and the core CPI to climb 0.3%...and that's exactly what happened. Behind the headline figures, the big story is that tariff hikes are NOT resulting in widespread, painful price hikes...at least not yet. Prices for "core goods excluding new vehicles and used cars and trucks" rose just 0.2% in July, down from 0.5% in June.
With a Fed meeting set for Sept. 16-17, investors are closely watching anything and everything that could shift the momentum in favor of (or against) a rate cut. This data keeps a potential 25-basis-point rate reduction firmly in play.
Meanwhile, President Trump just extended the current 90-day trade détente between the US and China for another 90 days. The deadline extension means that the US will continue to charge a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, while China will continue to charge a 10% levy on US imports.
Finally, stablecoins and stablecoin growth have been all the rage in the cryptocurrency arena. Now, we've just gotten the first post-IPO earnings release from USDC issuer Circle Internet Group Inc. (CRCL) - and it reveals a LOT about growth in the space.
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Circle said USDC circulation surged 90% year-over-year in the quarter ended June 30. Revenue and reserve income jumped 53% to $658 million, even though the company reported a net loss of $482 million thanks to non-cash charges tied to its Initial Public Offering. CRCL's IPO priced at $31, opened at $69 on June 5, traded as high as $103.75 that day, and were recently changing hands around $173.