Container prices continue to spike/Make sure to read the retailer comments, "Everyone loves a bargain and Bargain is our middle name"

World container prices continue to spike higher and the problem is not just the lengthier trips but also the lack of containers in China as empty ones don't come back to them as fast as they did. The Shanghai to Rotterdam trip was up 15% w/o/w to $6,032, higher by $762 on the week. It's doubled since late April and is up from $1,667 at year end. That's also triple where it was in February 2020, though still well below the panic peak in 2021 of $14,807. The Shanghai to LA trip was higher by 11% w/o/w to $5,975. 

While I see certain inflation pressures are definitely receding, others are not and reiterate my belief we are in a new world of greater inflation volatility and the days of consistent 1-2% inflation are over for a while. 

By the way, this was the wording on inflation from the S&P Global services US PMI seen yesterday. "Despite lower employment, wage pressures remained a key factor pushing up input costs, which increased sharply again in May and promoted a faster increase in selling prices, providing further evidence that inflation remains sticky."

WCI Shanghai to Rotterdam

WCI Shanghai to LA

With the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closing at fresh highs, though the Russell continues to badly lag, let's do a stock market sentiment check. The Citi Panic/Euphoria index seen on Saturday remained in Euphoria land, though a touch less so vs the previous week. The Bull/Bear spread in the Investors Intelligence survey dipped slightly below the extreme read of 40 as Bulls fell .6 pts to 57.6 and Bears were up .3 pts to 18.2 (this was as of Friday). AAII saw no change in Bulls at 39 while Bears rose by 5.3 pts to 32 (this was as of Monday). The CNN Fear/Greed is in the Neutral camp at 45.