What caught my eye this week.

I kept coming across inflation articles this week, and tried to be judicious about what was earmarked for Weekend Reading. Yet I still ended up with all those below and more on my shortlist:

Rising fuel and food costs push US inflation to 7.9% – BBC
Analysts predict year of 7% inflation for UK – FT Adviser
Petrol hits new record above 160p per litre – BBC
Higher inflation is increasing the cost of servicing Britain’s public debt – Economist
An energy shock and high inflation: are the 1970s reborn? [Search result] – FT
UK farmers warn rocketing gas costs could cut food production – Guardian
Hedging future energy costs with shares in a Ripple wind farm – DIY Investor UK
Energy bills are forecast to double, but switching is pointless – ThisIsMoney
Netflix hikes prices for the second time in 18 months… – Guardian
..and other subscription fees are rising too. Here’s how to save – Which
Typical payments on cheapest fixed mortgage deals rise by £840 a year – ThisIsMoney
Are we heading for recession? – A Wealth of Common Sense

This list could have been five times as long. It could be the same next week.

We are facing a hyper-inflationary environment for articles about inflation.

War footing

Of course it’s a trivial concern compared to actually suffering an invasion from a waxwork germophobe gangster armed with nuclear weapons, but it’s the war in Ukraine that has turned our inflation expectations up to eleven.

And it could get even worse.

Only a few weeks ago I was expecting inflation to start to roll over about now. Investors would have to be ready for quantitative tightening, sure. But interest rates would probably be rising against moderating inflation, as supply chains righted themselves.

Weaponising the energy market has changed all that. Higher oil prices could continue to juice – both directly and indirectly – the inflation statistics. A few pundits see oil doubling to $240 a barrel. Russia is warning of $300.

Saner voices anticipate demand destruction well before we hit those levels. Yet that means using less energy – just when the global economy was meant to be rebooting after Covid.

Dear oh dear

Could Europe see fuel rationing, no-drive days, and other throwbacks from the energy shocks of yore? It’s not impossible. Indeed it’d be a righteous thing to do, compared to spending hundreds of millions of dollars a day on Russian energy that further funds its war effort.

However in the short-term choking off energy use could hurry along a recession, even as rising prices force central banks to raise interest rates.

I raised the dread prospect of stagflation before Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, though I mostly waved it away as an outlier. That was because I didn’t think inflation would become embedded.

But war has changed the odds. All kinds of commodities – from oil to wheat to nickel – are being disrupted by the war. We may yet see something of a wage spiral. (I still believe recovering trade and technology and productivity gains can take the edge off.)

The end of super-low interest rates has meant tweaking our investing expectations. It now looks like everyday earning and spending will be worth reviewing, too.

Have a great weekend!

From Monevator

Our updated guide to finding you the best broker – Monevator

The social care thresholds and allowances – Monevator

From the archive-ator: Financial goals: sticking to the plan when the funk comes to visit – Monevator

News

Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!1

Pension transfer costs soar after 60% of advisers quit [Search result] – FT

London Mayor Sadiq Khan repeats call for private rent controls – Guardian

850,000 families missing out on £1.7bn in pension credit – Which

Covid infections rising again across the UK, says ONS – BBC

At 18 million, global Covid death toll three times the previous estimate – The Lancet

Some alternative approaches to often-overlooked sequence of return risk – Wade Pfau

Products and services

How to make charitable support for Ukraine go as far as possible – Which

The popular Marcus savings account has raised rates, but its not a table-topper – ThisIsMoney

Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor

Index providers react to Russian turmoil [US but relevant] – Morningstar

How will new ‘no fault’ divorces affect couples splitting their finances? – ThisIsMoney

Homes for sale that qualify for Help to Buy, in pictures – Guardian

Comment and opinion

Great racer, great runner – Fortunes & Frictions

Big financial commitments? Step away from the spreadsheet – Morningstar

I won’t be selling – Humble Dollar

Honorarium – Indeedably

Why can’t we stop making short-term market forecasts? – Behavioural Investment

Four big lessons for getting the most out of a career change [Search result] – FT

Listening to perma-bears is bad for your wealth – The Reformed Broker

A review of Trillions, the brief history of passive investing – Enterprising Investor

Retail investors still pay too higher fees for their ETFs – Klement on Investing

Crypt o’ crypto

Should you generate income via stablecoin lending? – Think Advisor

Naughty corner: Active antics

Autocracy is a bad investment – Morningstar

Why is the UK stock market so cheap? [Search result] – FT

The new Credit Suisse 2022 Yearbook summary edition is here – Credit Suisse

Lessons from the rise and fall of ARK – Validea

The contrarian magazine cover indicator is ruled by hindsight bias – Ritholtz

Zeikel’s rules – The Reformed Broker

Russia-Ukraine war

The hunt for Russian crypto is on – Protocol

How much Russian money is there in the UK? – BBC

How UK consumers can help phase out Russian oil and gas – Guardian

Ukraine food giant warns its collapse will hit troops – BBC

Will the war in Ukraine finally unite the EU? – Uncharted Territories

Ukraine’s top trading partners and products [Infographic] – Visual Capitalist

Are arms shipments from the West making a difference? – BBC

The Russians using emojis to evade censors – BBC

Kindle book bargains

Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown – £0.99 on Kindle

The Almighty Dollar: Follow the Incredible Journey of a Single Dollar to See How the Global Economy Really Works by Dharshini David – £1.89 on Kindle

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed For Men by Caroline Criado Perez – £1.99 on Kindle

Posh Boys: How English Public Schools Ruin Britain by Robert Verkaik – £0.99 on Kindle

Environmental factors

Greenwashing fashion firms to be named and shamed – Guardian

Amazon rainforest reaching tipping point, say researchers – BBC

Visualising the global landfill crisis – Visual Capitalist

Critics brand plans for octopus farming as unethical – Guardian

Off our beat

Of course we’re living in a simulation – Wired

Low expectations – Morgan Housel

The office is fine but the commute is still atrocious [Search result] – FT

How IKEA tricks you into buying more stuff – The Hustle

Why novelists have been starting Substack newsletters – Esquire

Quality time – Get Rich Slowly

And finally…

“Look at your cash everyday if you wish, your bonds every couple of years and your equities every ten years! Really, do not look at your performance more than once a year.”
– Tim Hale, Smarter Investing

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The post Weekend reading: Everybody is talking about inflation appeared first on Monevator.

Inflating inflation expectations, plus the rest of the week’s good reads…
The post Weekend reading: Everybody is talking about inflation appeared first on Monevator.