OIL COMMODITIES are the buy of the week

These numbers helped oil commodity prices to drop this past week. That means it is a good time to buy oil stocks such as SLB, NBR and ETF's OIH and DIG. Gold however is not a good buy. Gold has been overbought for sometime now and soon will become a good short. So keep an eye on stocks like AUY, NEM, ETF's GLD and GDX.


from HAVER ANALYTICS

U.S. CPI Ticked Up

· During February the consumer price index (CPI-U) rose for the first month since July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 0.3% gain followed drops of 0.8% and 1.7% during December and November. Due to those earlier sharp declines the three-month rate of change remained quite weak at -8.4% (AR). The latest increase matched Consensus expectations.

· A 1.7% rise in energy prices led last month's increase in the CPI after having been down during the previous five months. Gasoline prices reversed earlier declines with a 6.0% (-40.4% y/y) increase to an average of $1.79 per gallon of regular. Still moving lower last month, however, were fuel oil prices which fell 2.7% (-19.5% y/y). It was their sixth consecutive monthly drop while prices for natural gas & electricity fell 0.8% m/m (+7.2% y/y).

· Increases in food & beverage prices have very much tapered off from their strong gains earlier this year. A 0.1% uptick followed a like gain during December. That pulled the three month annual rate of increase down to 1.4% after growth as high as 8.7% this summer. Outright declines in meat and dairy product prices as well as much easier growth in cereal & bakery product costs account for the moderation.

· Core prices (CPI less food and energy) showed their strongest increase since August with a 0.2% rise. However, despite the increase the year-to-year gain of 1.7% remained its weakest since mid-2004. Little or no growth in core prices during the prior four months accounts for the moderation.

· Core goods prices rose for the first time since July. The 0.3% increase reversed the prior month's decline but nevertheless left the three-month rate of change at a negative 0.9%. Prices of new & used motor vehicles increased for the first time in a year, but the 0.2% rise left them down 3.2% during that period. Lower prices of used cars paced the decline with a 9.2% twelve month decrease. Apparel prices ticked up 0.3% (-0.9% y/y) while prices for household furnishings & operations ticked lower by 0.1% (+1.8% y/y). Appliance prices were up 2.0% y/y while furniture prices were unchanged y/y. Tobacco prices again were strong during January and they posted a 0.8% increase (+6.1% y/y).