On Friday, we asked readers whether the U.S. economy has reached peak inflation *fingers crossed*. Here’s a sample of your responses…

“More to come,” says a concise reader. “I think inflation will be around for at least another year and maybe longer.  When Congress and the Fed are constantly kicking the can down the road… expect no relief!!” 

Another reader writes: “The free money train in the USA doesn’t help – along with China. Shutting down domestic oil production and shutting out Russia makes for less oil and no one to fill the void. 

"Gee, I’m no Ivy Leaguer, but I’m betting on more inflation before less.”

As for domestic oil production, Biden actually reneged on his campaign promise of “no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period.” Never say never, right? 

Earlier this month, the Interior Department broadcast plans to auction drilling leases on 145,000 acres of public lands across nine states.

And last today, a reader talks about inflation’s real-world implications: “My shopping experience, across the board, shows runaway inflation!” 

Send your opinions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

Your Rundown for Monday, April 25, 2022...

Middle East Ally Goes Long on Yuan

In a rather surprising development, the central Bank of Israel announced Wednesday that it would be making some momentous changes to its foreign currency reserves. 

Namely, the bank is reducing its U.S. dollars, and for the first time ever, purchasing Chinese yuan… 

Source: Bloomberg

“To make way for the new currencies, the central bank indicated that existing stocks of dollars and euros would become a lower total proportion of the country’s reserves,” says The National Interest. 

Although U.S. dollars will still comprise much of the central bank foreign currencies, that level has dropped from about 66% to 61%. 

Not a major shift, but from our perspective, just another stop on the road to de-dollarization. 

Market Rundown for Monday, April 25, 2022 

S&P 500 futures are down 0.60% to 4,244. 

Oil’s in free fall, down 4.5% to $97.43 for a barrel of WTI. 

Gold is down 2% to $1,895.10 per ounce. 

And Bitcoin is down 2.3% at the time of writing to $38,810. 

Send your comments and questions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

Hope your week’s off to a great start. See you Wednesday… 

For the Rundown,

Matt Insley
Publisher, The Rundown
TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com