Why Markets Are Dumping: Sticky Inflation Is the Problem Bitcoin Can’t Ignore

Here's the actual inflation data, broken down to sectors and why some fields are doing much worse than others. September’s hotter-than-expected CPI report reignited fears that inflation is rising again, especially since the 3.7% annual increase was considerably larger than the 3.4% in August. Core CPI also rose to 2.6% year over year, above expectations and up from 2.4% the month prior. Gasoline jumped 9.1% in September alone, while shelter, airline fares, medical care, apparel, and other categories also moved higher. This is what experts mean by sticky inflation: price pressures aren’t disappearing even after years of restrictive monetary policy. More importantly, they are spreading beyond one volatile category such as energy. Why So Bad for Markets Analysts at the Kobeissi Letter noted that US inflation has stayed above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for 67 consecutive months. It was last below that level during the COVID-19-induced lockdown in January 2021. The KL also outlined particularly sharp annual increases in several sectors: fuel oil up 74.2%, gasoline up 34.2%, airline fares up 22.4%, car repairs up 5.8%, hospital services up 5.6%, and electricity up 4.4%. Persistent i...