Bill Losey’s Weekly Economic Update for Oct. 18, 2010

CPI UP JUST 0.1%, PPI ADVANCES 0.4%
In September, consumer prices barely increased – in fact, the core Consumer Price Index was flat for the second month in a row. According to the Labor Department, core CPI has risen only 0.8% in the last 12 months – core inflation hasn’t been so tame since 1961. With the economy so sluggish, retailers clearly need to keep their prices low to see if they can promote any demand. Producer prices increased for the third straight month, with the core PPI rising 0.1% for September. The core PPI is up 1.6% over the past 12 months, and the overall PPI has advanced 4.0% in that period.

CONSUMER SENTIMENT SLIPS A BIT
October’s preliminary University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index is in, and it shows a mild decline. Analysts weren’t expecting the index to move south, but it went to 67.9 from the final 68.2 September reading.

RETAIL SALES UP BY 0.6% FOR SEPTEMBER
On Friday, the Commerce Department reported the second straight monthly advance in the category, after a revised 0.7% gain for August. Sales improved across almost all retail categories – they only weakened at clothing stores.

BUSINESS INVENTORIES GROW IN AUGUST
Business stockpiles increased by 0.6% in that month, according to the Commerce Department. This follows a 1.1% increase for July. Both of those gains will likely constitute major contributions to 3Q GDP. On the downside, business sales only improved by 0.1%, leaving the inventory-to-sales ratio at 1.27 months.

WALL STREET RIDES A 2-WEEK WIN STREAK
The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all advanced last week. The DJIA gained 0.51% for the week to close at 11,062.78 on Friday. The NASDAQ ended last week at 2,468.77 after a 2.78% weekly gain; the S&P 500 wound up at 1,176.19 after a 0.95% weekly advance.