How does your city/metro area rank according to inflation?

“To get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term,” says WalletHub, “we compared the Consumer Price Index for the latest month for which BLS data is available two months prior and one year prior.”

Citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services… everything from food items to automobiles to rent.”

So, the folks at WalletHub, using the BLS’ figures, calculate that the U.S. city with the biggest inflation problem — among 23 major MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) — is situated in Florida…

23 U.S. Metro Areas Ranked By Inflation

The darker the color, the higher the inflation…

In number-one position is the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area. Rounding out the rest of the five worst inflation centers in the U.S…

• Dallas/Forth Worth/Arlington, TX
• Louis, MO-IL
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
• Philadelphia-Camden, PA-NJ

And U.S. cities with lowest inflation include Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO; Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI; Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; and — with the lowest rate of inflation — Anchorage, AK.

Here’s a question for readers: Which specific goods or services have you noticed experiencing the highest price increases in your area of the country recently (e.g. housing, groceries, gas, etc.)?

Onto an update from Paradigm’s macro expert Jim Rickards on “the dumbest plan ever”...

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Your Rundown for Wednesday, March 13, 2024...

Ukraine’s Gold Connection

“At the start of the War in Ukraine, the U.S. froze about $300 billion of U.S.,” says Jim. “Treasury securities lawfully purchased by the Russian Federation.”

Just so you know, the latest U.S. aid package to Ukraine was announced in the past 24 hours…

Back to Jim…

“Legally, those securities are still owned by Russia,” he says. “They cannot be sold, traded, transferred or used as collateral.

“Now the U.S. is trying to seize those securities. This is outright theft.

“Such theft is contrary to numerous provisions of domestic and international law, but the U.S. is pushing the main custodian, Euroclear in Belgium, and European banks to amend their laws or ignore them for this purpose.

“Other countries are watching,” says Jim. “China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and other nations have hundreds of billions of dollars each in U.S. Treasuries in their reserve positions.

“Watching what the U.S. is doing to Russia is causing those countries to consider alternatives to Treasuries.

“That’s easier said than done. If U.S. Treasuries are in danger of being stolen, it’s not clear euro- or yen-denominated securities are any safer.’

Thus, central banks are buying gold. “Strong demand from central banks and flat output from mining is a recipe for higher prices and a de facto floor.

“In a world where Treasuries can be confiscated at will,” says Jim, “gold is the liquid, safe alternative and appeals to many investors.”

His next target for gold? That would be $3,200 per ounce or the inflation-adjusted equivalent of gold’s 1980 top — during gold’s “second bull market,” says Jim.

Market Rundown for Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The S&P 500 is slightly in the red at 5,170.

Oil is up 2.40% to $79.40 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 0.50% to $2,168.50 per ounce.

Bitcoin is up another 1.5% to $72,630.

[Sorry for the technical difficulties: If you watched crypto investor James Altucher’s live stream from Austin, Texas yesterday — which was abruptly interrupted — here’s the rest of the conversation. And the transcript.]

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