Inflation

A new documentary was released last month called Capturing Bigfoot. Atlas’ film critics have yet to review the 103-minute piece, but its title inspired this note.  In the film, the famous Patterson-Gimlin clip (who knew it had such a formal name) is revisited along with newly discovered footage.

We’ve all learned that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That tends to lead one to believe that the scenic path (e.g., longer route) will take more time to travel. But what if that is not the case? As it turns out, Newtonian physics shows this intuition is wrong.

This note was on the calendar because it is that time of year, but then Atlas had to rip up the script when the war in Iran started because seasonal issues alone were no longer driving the price of fuel higher.  Initially this note was going to help remind readers that changes to the blend of fuel would be taking place soon as the weather warms.

Like the first crisp breeze that signals summer’s end, the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower the overnight interest rate on Wednesday suggests a chill in the economic air, one marked by growing concern over the labor market. 

The calendar has turned, and we find ourselves on the backside of Labor Day.  Halloween, however, is nearly two months away.  America finds itself in a sort of doldrums.  Summer is unofficially over, yet the holiday season has not arrived.  Many Americans resort to Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSL) as a way of taking the edge off of this uneventful period.  If that’s you

The Federal Reserve heavily influences the American economy.  Every six weeks the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) gathers to determine the correct course for monetary policy; they do this by setting the Fed Funds Rate (the amount charged for overnight loans between banks).  In short, they are trying to strike a balance between controlling inflation and supporting the labor market

According to chiefexecutive.net, optimism remains stubbornly low in America’s C-Suites (the group of senior executives in a company whose titles typically start with "Chief”).  Each month they conduct America’s largest monthly poll of CEOs.

From time to time, Atlas will look at consumer attitude data.  Recently, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment release caught our attention.  In particular, inflation expectations made a dramatic move higher.  Those surveyed in February 2025 believe inflation will climb 3.5 percent per year over the next five years.  This is up from 3.2 percent in January and

Last week Atlas sent a note called How Did We Get Here?

In recent years, America has experienced higher inflation than we've seen in a long time.