"Tables associated with Thursday's PPI data will be delayed until fur"

The news says they won't tell us about the inflation numbers!

"Note: Tables associated with Thursday's PPI data will be delayed until further notice."

What's up with that? I love those tables. They show the spike in crude and intermediate goods.

[RobertSeattle]

1. You mean this?

http://www.bls.gov/ppi/delaynotice.htm

DELAY OF RELEASE OF PRODUCER PRICE INDEX FOR JANUARY 2004

The release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2004 has been delayed from the originally scheduled date of February 19, 2004. The delay is caused by unexpected difficulties in the conversion of PPI data from the Standard Industrial Classification system to the North American Industry Classification System. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will announce a revised date for the release as soon as possible.

Let's just hope it a bureacratic snafu - it would be terrible if the BLS is getting politicized.

[papau]

2. it would be terrible if the BLS is getting politicized - - LOL --:-)

:-)

[Newsjock]

3. Why is this different from any other month?

Don't they have to do the same conversion every time, or was there some type of change?

This sounds extraordinarily fishy -- made worse by a media that won't dig to find the real reasons.

4. It is just a change of categories

They did make a minor change...but

Worst case, they could release based on the existing categories.

Not right.

[junker]

5. Thailland (currency crisis 1997) all over again? Or Argentina 02?

From dave lewis: lifted from today's commentary at lemetropolecafe.com

Dave Lewis:

Bill;
What a surprise for me to return from a bit of afternoon hockey to find in my inbox a note from the BLS stating that:

The release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2004 has been
delayed from the originally scheduled date of February 19, 2004.

I can clearly recall one country which used that trick, Thailand, prior to the Asian crisis, whose Central Bank refused to release its current account data for months early in 1997 because it would show that the situation had gone from bad to untenable. Perhaps this is an honest mistake and perhaps not, time will tell. However, given the rapid rise of commodity prices over the past year, the unspecified date for the next release of producer inflation data does not inspire confidence in me.

Buy Gold!

regards
Dave Lewis
http://www.chaos-onomics.com