Zaid Admani

The February CPI report just dropped this morning and the numbers came in right in line with expectations.

Prices rose 0.3% month over month and 2.4% from a year ago.

And when you look at core inflation, which economists like to focus on because it strips out volatile prices like food and energy, that came in at 2.5% annually, which is the slowest pace in nearly five years.

What stood out to me as someone who's trying to buy a car soon is that used car prices fell.

Also, rent prices were up just 0.1%, which is the smallest increase in five years.

So on the surface, this inflation report was not bad.

But here's the thing though, this report is pretty much outdated already because it only captures prices before the war with Iran started back on February 28th.

So it doesn't capture the surge in oil prices and the ripple effect that that's having on the economy right now.

Economists often estimate that every $10 increase in oil prices can add about 0.2 percentage points to inflation.

In fact, we're already seeing a real impact at the prompt.

The average gas price went from $2.90 a gallon before the war to around $3.50 today.

So the March report is going to be key.

The numbers there could get pretty ugly.

This inflation report is unlikely to influence the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.

The Fed is meeting next week and the market is pricing in a 99% chance

interest rates stay as is.

And with the potential resurgence of inflation, the Fed might have to wait even longer to cut interest rates.

We'll see what Fed Chair Jerome Powell has to say about it next week.

Let's shift gears and talk about Oracle.

They reported earnings