Stocks finish down nearly 4% for August, driven by the declines of just the past four days.
Among the many decliners for the month, bonds were down (-4%), gold was down (-4%), copper was down (-1%), most currencies not called the dollar (-2% to -5%)… and crude oil was down (-5%).
This is all, of course, attributed to the chorus of tough talk by central bankers on the rate path.
What determines the tough talk? Inflation.
With that, the books are now closed on the month of August. The August inflation report will come on September 13th. And this report comes a week ahead of the Fed's next meeting on rates.
So, let's take a look at what we know is a key input into the inflation calculation: Gas prices.
Remember, we've looked at this chart the past couple of months. It's a 10-year period that shows how closely gas prices and the consumer price index track …