Marc Cuniberti commentary: Planes, boats and automobiles

The latest inflation data just out Jan. 11 shows consumer prices rose more than expected in December. I should add more than expected by the Federal Reserve but not to readers of Money Matters. Prices, to the chagrin of those steering our economy, popped up 3.4% year over year, which was an increase over the 3.1% the month prior. Meanwhile, another metric called the "core' inflation number, fell to 3.9% from 4.0% the month prior. Core inflation excludes food and energy, so the question becomes why even mention it? After all, we still need to eat and use energy, right? So goes the minions at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the folks that tell us such things. Always a positive spin is presented to keep us from storming the capital. (Gosh, I guess I shouldn't even go there.) Meanwhile, aircraft manufacturer Boeing has blown the doors off what shouldn't be happening by those that make the planes we fly in (literally). Disturbing facts are now becoming known about the unfortunate Alaska Airlines flight that had an exit door blow out at 15,000 feet, depressurizing the cabin and sucking out all that was not bolted down. This included a child's shirt, ripped right off his body, who sat very near the hatch that suddenly disappeared into the nothingness. There was one thing that was bolted down that was ripped asunder. The door to the pilot's cabin flew off its hinges, demonstrating the ferocity of the decompression. Speculation has it, had the exit door blown off at a higher altitude, like the 35,000 feet these planes usually fly at, we might be looking at a catastrophic event which would have killed all aboard and turned the Boeing into metal confetti. The plane was 737 Max that arrived on the scene about six years ago. There are a few different versions of the Max. The Alaska flight was a Max 9. Another version, the Max 8, unfortunately first came with an autopilot system that had a propensity to put the plane in a nosedive that pilots not trained in the new system might not be able to recover from. That little glitch caused two Max 8s to crater into the earth nose down (2018/2019), killing all aboard before the FAA and Boeing decided it was time to pull the plane out of service and fix the problem. Since reinstated, this is the first major mishap of any Max since the fatal crashes. Even more disturbing, having experienced instances of decompression warning lights on three previous flights, Alaska Airlines decided to recommend to not fly at least one of its planes over water, instead limiting flights to over land-only trips. Makes one wonder, and not in a good way. In other news, the UK Marine Trade Operations center reported an unnamed tanker was hijacked off the Gulf of Oman last week. Readers of Money Matters might refer to last week's article how increased piracy problems could spike inflation. I reiterate once again, unless piracy events are reduced on the major shipping waterways surrounding the gulf region, inflation may not improve anytime soon and could actually get worse. Other newsworthy events include a blow to those thinking electric vehicles (EV) are the wave of the future. Hertz, the global rental car agency, said on Jan. 10 it will sell off 20,000 of its EV fleet due to the higher expenses the gas-free cars require. Hertz will replace the EVs with traditional gas-powered vehicles. I definitely didn't see that one coming. Bitcoins enthusiasts were encouraged as a new way to buy cyber tokens arrived on Wall Street in the form of 10 new Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). These funds will allow investors to participate in the Bitcoin arena without actually holding the coins themselves. This could eliminate some of the previous problems that plagued investors when dealing with the exchanges where investors had to buy and hold the actual tokens. Many of these firms went belly up (think FTX), which resulted in partial or total losses to the investors. One has to wonder what the new funds will do to the price of Bitcoin due to the increased demand. The existing firms that sell Bitcoin now also have serious competition, and given the problems many of those firms have had, one has to wonder if they will survive at all. That's it for today's Money Matters. Past articles, questions or comments can be requested/submitted to the author at the email listed below. This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a BA in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com