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Consumer Price Index

A US Bureau of Labor Statistics index measuring changes in prices consumers pay for a basket of goods and services, the primary US inflation gauge.

Known aliases

  • core CPI
  • CPI
  • CPI-U
  • CPI-W
  • headline CPI
  • July CPI
  • prescription drug price index

Current stories

investOne report1 publisher

Fed hike odds for October doubled on Kalshi after a 0.6% CPI print

Traders put a 24.9% chance on a 25 basis point Fed hike on Oct. 28 after September CPI rose 0.6% month over month. On $100 million of floating-rate debt a 25 basis point hike adds $250,000 a year; weighted at 24.9%, the October share is about $62,000.

Reality

Evidence50
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+15
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence55
investConfirmed3 publishers

Core CPI at 0.2% would let the Fed skip an October hike even with headline inflation at 3.6%

Economists expect Wednesday's September CPI to show a 0.6% monthly rise as Iran-war energy costs push Brent to about $105. RSM warns forecasts may undershoot, and the Fed's October hike depends on the core reading.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 5%
Operator
Operator 23%
Investor
Investor 72%

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap
Not scored
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence68
investOne report1 publisher

Truflation sees September CPI a tenth of a point under consensus on both headline and core

Truflation forecasts September US headline CPI at 3.6% and core at 2.4%, a tenth below the 3.7% and 2.5% consensus in its Oct. 9 report. The gap is wider on the monthly headline, 0.48% against 0.6%.

Publishers:crypto.news

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+10
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence45
investConfirmed14 publishers

A unanimous Fed hike leaves gold's real policy rate at 17 basis points

The Fed took its target range to 3.75-4.00% on September 16 and raised its median PCE forecast to 3.7% in the same document, so the real cost of holding a metal that pays no coupon moved by about a sixth of a point.

Perspective Coverage

14 publishers
Builder
Builder 3%
Operator
Operator 27%
Investor
Investor 70%

Reality

Evidence80
Adoption75
Hype gap+15
Incentives30
Confidence75
investConfirmed10 publishers

Cellphone bills supplied a third of the core CPI move that repriced next week's Fed hike to 85%

Wireless telephone services rose 5.9% in August, the most the BLS has ever recorded for the category, and without that one line core inflation rounds to the 0.2% economists expected. Traders moved hike odds to 85% anyway.

Perspective Coverage

10 publishers
Builder
Builder 5%
Operator
Operator 15%
Investor
Investor 80%

Reality

Evidence60
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives30
Confidence62
investOne report1 publisher

Hassett's case against another Fed hike rests on a three-month inflation window

Kevin Hassett, the White House's top economist, says three-month core inflation near 2% leaves the Fed little room to raise rates. Wednesday's August PCE release will test his window on the inflation gauge the Fed itself prefers.

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+30
Incentives80
Confidence50
investOne report1 publisher

Macklem's conditional hike would start from a real policy rate of minus 0.75

Tiff Macklem says elevated energy prices are adding persistence to headline inflation, with CPI at 3% and new tariffs on course to push fourth-quarter growth below 1%. His commitment runs in both directions.

Reality

Evidence22
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+30
Incentives55
Confidence30
investOne report1 publisher

Two-year yield at 4.75% sits just shy of the 4.80% peak rate futures markets are pricing in

The Fed's September 16 move to 3.75-4% took the two-year note to nearly 4.75%, which is roughly the top of the range plus the 80 basis points futures have priced. Buyers get carry now. Whether they keep it comes down to August's 0.4% monthly CPI.

Reality

Evidence35
Adoption35
Hype gap+30
Incentives55
Confidence30
investOne report1 publisher

Prudential's gain from a 5.33% long bond arrives at the speed its bond book matures

Cryptobriefing puts the 30-year Treasury at 5.33% intraday and calls it a windfall for life insurers. The peer income figure it cites implies a book already earning about 4.0%, so the pickup is nearer 1.3 points.

Reality

Evidence25
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+45
Incentives40
Confidence35
investOne report1 publisher

Households pushed money-market balances to $5.1 trillion for a real yield under half a point

The Fed's Q2 accounts show household money-market holdings up 12.8% over the year to $5.1 trillion at yields below 3.75% after fees, with August CPI at 3.4% and the small-CD balances savers control flat for seven months.

Publishers:wolfstreet.com

Reality

Evidence63
Adoption78
Hype gap+15
Incentives32
Confidence60
investOne report1 publisher

Futures leave the Fed's surprise in an 11.5% chance of a hold

CME FedWatch puts 88.5% on a quarter-point hike to 3.75% after CPI printed 3.4%. The 11.5% left over is a hold, and UBS's Paul Donovan says that outcome would put a risk premium into bond pricing. Trump wants the hold.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence46
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+24
Incentives62
Confidence53
investOne report1 publisher

Hike odds in the high 80s pull copper off its $14,500 record

A 3.4% headline CPI print has pushed odds on a September 15-16 Fed hike into the high 80s. Copper is off a record above $14,500 a tonne, and the two reasons given for that record, tight supply and tariff risk, are unchanged.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+32
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence28
investOne report1 publisher

A 0.2-point revision to core PCE would still leave it 1.1 points above the Fed's target

The BEA publishes its annual national accounts revision on September 30, fourteen days after the FOMC votes, and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan both model it taking 0.1 to 0.2 points off core inflation back to 2021.

Reality

Evidence34
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+31
Incentives56
Confidence37
leadershipOne report1 publisher

EY-Parthenon Switches to Fed Hike Call After Core CPI Hits 0.3%; Nationwide Cites Rising Oil and Gas Prices

CME FedWatch put the odds of an increase at the Sept. 16 meeting near 90% after August's core reading, and Capital Economics expects two further quarter-point moves by March 2027. The August data predates $100 oil.

Publishers:cbsnews.com

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption60
Hype gap+15
Incentives30
Confidence55
investOne report1 publisher

Truflation's 1.07-point gap with the BLS comes due in about six weeks

Truflation's September reading of 2.33% sits 1.07 points below the BLS print for August. The platform's own record of forecasting official releases within 0.09 points makes that gap a claim with a settlement date.

Reality

Evidence29
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+52
Incentives71
Confidence33
investOne report1 publisher

BNP Paribas calls for three Fed hikes that would exactly undo its 2025 cuts

Isabelle Mateos y Lago's revised forecast starts tightening in December 2026, and it leans on a headline CPI of 3.4% whose core component is running a full point lower at 2.5%.

Reality

Evidence26
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+42
Incentives58
Confidence30
investOne report1 publisher

Three regional Fed presidents voted to hike against a quarter annualizing at 0.49%

The 3.4% headline that drew three dissents for immediate hikes is carried by nine older months running near 4.4% annualized. Clearing those months out of the window takes nine more monthly prints.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence38
Adoption45
Hype gap+20
Incentives55
Confidence45
investOne report1 publisher

The 3.1% drug price drop has three engines, and two of them predate TrumpRx

The steepest annual decline since 1963 is being credited to most favored nation deals. The contracts are not public, the models are not live, and the index measures pharmacy receipts.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence64
Adoption38
Hype gap+52
Incentives74
Confidence66
investOne report1 publisher

Goldman says the market's 45% odds on a Fed hike are nearly double what the data supports

The bank's own estimate is 25%. The more useful detail is that the market's hike probability travelled from 12% to 45% on oil headlines, not on inflation prints.

Reality

Evidence28
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+24
Incentives66
Confidence33

Earlier coverage