FOMC Fiddles with Boosting Interest Rates,
While Annual Real M3 Growth Just Plunged to a
New Signal for a Major Economic Downturn

Annual Contraction in First-Quarter Real Earnings Is a Virtual Certainty;
Back-to-Back Quarterly Contractions Also Are in Play;
Circumstances Not Seen Since the Stalled GDP of Second-Half 2012

February Nominal Retail Sales Gain of 0.08% Was Less than Inflation;
Inflation-Adjusted Real Sales Declined by 0.04% (-0.04%) for the Month

Headline Annual Inflation Surge Has Been Due to Energy-Price Distortions,
Not to an Overheating Economy

February 2017 Monthly CPI Inflation Rose by 0.12%,
Pushing Annual CPI-U Inflation to a 60-Month High of 2.74%, with
CPI-W at 2.82% and ShadowStats at 10.5%

February Final-Demand PPI Annual Inflation Hit a 59-Month High of 2.19%