fbpx

Hugo Investing

Inflation, interest rates and investing

Inflation, interest rates and investing

If you invest and/or follow the economic news, it is mainly about inflation, interest rates and how central governments deal with them. All news aside, the stock markets have at least decided to set records (I am writing this in mid-June 2021).

The stock markets

When inflation is high, central governments will cut back on their support suits and start raising interest rates (slowly). This is not good for stock prices, after all, other forms of investment, such as bonds become more interesting again.

Inflation, inflation and inflation

The market thinks that high inflation is short-lived. Central governments share this view.

Looking at the underlying forces fueling inflation, I found a few notable facts. It started mainly with the US inflation numbers for April, which were 4.2% (annualized). However, used car sales alone were up 10% that month. This increase accounted for a third of the total monthly increase.

In addition, the largest increase was gasoline at 49.6%!

I believe that these increases from the above factors will not continue as much in the coming time. This is because the demand for used cars has been largely driven by the fact that, on the one hand, these markets were largely at a standstill during the ‘lockdowns’ and, on the other hand, by the fact that some of the lease drivers have switched to their own, mostly used cars.

Do you think gasoline prices are low? I don’t. Of course, the price of oil may continue to rise. But be aware that this increase will not be passed on one-to-one in the price of gasoline. After all, the fixed cost of a liter of gasoline is a major component.

And then there are the house prices!

These too have generally risen considerably. But then we’re talking about sales prices. Rental prices usually rise only a year later. This, because contractually usually only once a year an increase can be made.

So this “cost of living” will be even higher in the near future.

Conclusion

But all factors combined, I now agree with the Central Banks for once, the high inflation will be short-lived.

What do you think?

Kaspar Huijsman

Kaspar Huijsman is founder and director of Hugo Broker (former BinckBank Spain) and is a passionate investor himself. In his columns he writes about his experiences on the stock market and the economy. If you have a question, mail to kaspar@hugobroker.com

The information in this article should not be interpreted as individual investment advice. Although Hugo compiles and maintains these pages from reliable sources, Hugo cannot guarantee that the information is accurate, complete or current. The use of information from this article without prior verification or advice is at your own risk. We recommend that you only invest in products that match your knowledge and experience and do not invest in financial instruments whose risks you do not understand.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top