Western governments continue to make decisions today, to ensure their political futures remain intact tomorrow with absolutely no thought for the consequences of their actions, next week, month or year. This expedient approach also highlights their total incompetence.

US CPI yoy actual 8.3% versus expected 8.1% and previous 8.5%

Usual caveat, add at least 10% for the real figure.

Algos reaction to the US CPI print suggests they have had an electronic aneurysm.

Telling statement

Borrell has stated that the EU would like peace talks wrt Ukraine to begin as soon as possible and it was necessary to negotiate with Russia on several issues, including the security of Zaporozhye NPP.

US CPI inflation for food rose by 11.4% yoy in August, up from 10.9% previously and at the fastest rate since 1979.

Goldman’s loss rate on credit card loans is the worst among big U.S. card issuers and “well above subprime lenders” at 2.93%.

More than a quarter of Goldman’s card loans have gone to customers with FICO scores below 660.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/12/goldmans-gs-apple-card-business-has-a-surprising-subprime-problem.html

US electricity bills rose 15.8% in August yoy, the highest since 1981.

Given US couldn't coerce China into invading Taiwan so they could implement sanctions, the US is now considering sanctioning China anyway to deter them from invading Taiwan.

They truly are pathetic and predictable. It is what dying empires do.

So Scholz and Putin talked for 90 mins today. Setting aside the usual post match analysis by Scholz, he initiated the call. Europe is starting to face up to reality, but politically it is like swallowing a brick.

BDI Industry Association of Germany:

We are expecting a massive recession in Germany.

Rio Tinto Group entered into a joint venture with its biggest customer, China Baowu Steel Group to develop a new iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

US govt posted a $220bn budget deficit for August, up 29% from the $171 billion gap reported in the same month last year, as spending on health services, education and interest on the public debt outstripped a double-digit increase in revenues.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-august-budget-deficit-widens-year-earlier-2022-09-13/

Appears Xi and Putin will be discussing, amongst other things, the so-called SMO in Ukraine, in detail on the sidelines of the SCO summit starting tomorrow.

In a move which should surprise no one, the EU's executive branch is planning to recommend cutting funding for Orban's govt on concerns about widespread graft in Hungary.

Iran has officially become an full member of the SCO.

Japan posted a record trade deficit in August, 2.82tn yen or $19.6bn, the 13th in a row, which was treble the deficit for August yoy.

Principal causes spiking energy costs and weakening Yen.

The Chinese and Russian navies have undertaken a second joint patrol in the Pacific Ocean.

West appears to want to abandon cheap energy and manufactured goods whilst still trying to maintain the standard of living it enjoyed precisely because of access to those things. It is already learning a painful lesson as to why that's not possible.

According to EU parliament, Hungary can no longer be considered a democracy as European values are under systemic threat in country and it has become an electoral autocracy.

European values implying that any nation which defends its own sovereignty is deemed a systemic threat.

Xi:

China and Russia should strengthen coordination in the SCO, BRICS and other multilateral mechanisms.

Moscow and Beijing should jointly defend the interests of developing countries.

Western experts still have no idea about the relationship between these two nations.