This will be very much highlights and on point.  Because I’ve been up since 2 AM writing next week’s Peoplenomics report as pieces of the Four Track Human model continue to fall into place.

Focus in ShopTalk Sunday will be “Yard and Garden Engineering” which is where systems thinking and calorie-quest collide with a side of mower madness…  Now down to work:

About the CPI:  11.3% Annualized

Read ’em and weep:

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in March, after rising 0.3 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The index for energy rose 10.9 percent in March, led by a 21.2-percent increase in the index for gasoline which accounted for nearly three quarters of the monthly all items increase. The shelter index also increased in March, rising 0.3 percent. The index for food was unchanged over the month as the index for food away from home rose 0.2 percent, while the index for food at home fell 0.2 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in March. Indexes that increased over the month include airline fares, apparel, household furnishings and operations, education, and new vehicles. Conversely, the indexes for medical care, personal care, and used cars and trucks were among the major indexes that decreased in March.

This should be fun.  Why?  The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is scheduled for April 28–29, 2026.

What makes it fun – and moving us in the direction of waffles and dancing is how the Fed will have to find an excuse to lower rates when inflation is (nods at the price of oil still up around a hunsky) not showing signs of heading to the “Fed target 2 percent.”  Let’s inspect the press release, the line-item for the hallowed “all items less food and energy” (because we all know those don’t matter) and see how the D.C. two-step lines up for the (just after crash “Here to save us” meeting – where, yes, rates will be lowered…(Sorry, didn’t mean to time-blur on you, but we do that sometimes). The 12 month year-on-year is on the right here:

Hey! Maybe Powell could declare victory, too?

This is really sick when you think about it: The PowersThatBe pimp-out 2 percent as the economic  center of the Universe – for how long was it? – and you mark the old man’s words here: Suddenly it won’t matter.  Iet’s has such an eau d septic to it, right?

Here is the Big Secret everyone overlooks.  Making a butt-load on money isn’t the answer.  Dialing in consumption so you can live in harmony in your own life is.  The problem which I’ve written several books on (see Amazon) is simply this: Sustainability doesn’t feed the Ruling Class, and we can’t have them suffering, now, can we?

Dance: TACOs and Waffles

Oil and Vig department here: Trump cautions Iran against charging tolls to go through Strait of Hormuz as fragile ceasefire holds. (That’s vig as in the gambling term for piece of the action not vinegar, but we write whatever lowbrow comes to mind by the time we get tapped out on Fridays like this…)

TALK-oh-time?  Islamabad prepares to host US-Iran talks, two sides remain far apart.  Our in “seer realms” sources tell us the talks won’t fail until next Friday, but whether that’s before the market close a week from now isn’t clear.  Crystal balls in the shop, kind of thing.  Crash on the 24th though, and yeah, verily, this is why/how the Fed will lower rates, but you have this all wired by now, we’re sure.

In the middle of multiple wars, we found ourselves asking “What kind of judge would do this?”  Federal judge finds Pentagon is violating court order to restore access to reporters. So the correct answer is: A bill Clinton appointee siding with the New York Times, kind of judge is the correct answer.

Frankly, and as close to balanced as we can in the fog of war out here, all the Trump dementia talk does seem to get legs when reading stories like US asks allies for quick plans to secure Hormuz after pact | Miami Herald.  So let’s me get this right: We pretend to be negotiating in good faith and in the back room making plans for a real estate grab? Who the f*** would talk sincerely to us while we’re reloading?  Wanna help a brother out, here? Eyes must be gone – I just don’t see it.

There for the taking, is it? So who’s next?  The Greenland marketing campaign seems to be on hold.  “Not me” said the little red…uh…Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel tells NBC News that he will not step down.

Things are going Trumptastically well, yet despite the NY Times headline, no, Jimmy Kimmel is not news. Jimmy Kimmel Salutes Melania’s White House Surprise – The New York Times. We won’t ask questions (How did she get a visa, though?) Instead, we will point to Thomas Massie Reacts to Melania Trump’s Epstein Statement – Newsweek.

We may be witnessing Trump mathematics.  Goes like this.  America is pushing what 345-million?  So, even though he keeps turning on former friends (Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens Respond As Trump Calls Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly ‘Losers,’) he’s not likely to run out of admirers – America is still the land of corporate and government suck-ups, let’s be fair.

Peace on Earth? A cease fire and now this??? Putin declares weekend ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine for Orthodox Easter.  Drop by Monday – bring ammo.

Around the Ranch: Phones are Back On!

Thanks to the remaining (American) workers who solved it.

Still, we had enough time to get our second sat link firmed up and to decide that and Ooma Air for wifi would fit with our telecom migration plans.

Now, if Charter/Spectrum could just do something with the coil of fiber on the ground in our front yard for three years now.

Take the rest of the week off. No drug testing on Wall Street today – market futures are up even after 11.3 percent inflation reported. ViseGrips to the forearms!

Write when one of us gets rich,

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