http://www.indexuniverse.com/sectio...s-to-launch-15-more-hedge-fund-like-etfs.html Assuming the Securities and Exchange Commission finds no special quirks to halt a launch, the new ETFs will be the: * IQ CPI Inflation Tracker ETF [...]
Keep on living in denial and watch your purchasing power get crushed - it's fine with me. The way BLS calculates CPI is a joke.
I completely agree with sprst on shadowstats and govt numbers. My proposal: 60% TIPS 10% Gold GLD 10% Silver SLV 10% Oil USL 10% Agriculture DBA By nature, really hedging against (High-/Hyper-)Inflation is next to impossible. It is bad for stocks and other factors, like social unrest, have to be considered.
The best hedge against high or hyperinflation I can think of is a basket of 3-4 trendfollowing CTA funds with 10+ year trackrecords. They will benefit from high asset price volatility and give you leveraged exposure to currency/commodity/interest rate swings. If however the entire inflation scare is a headfake then these funds should preserve your nominal capital better than long only commodity/metal/TIP bond investments (see 2008 for a beautiful example).
My big problem with the CPI is the OER component, which completely ignores the housing equity that can be monetized. Buy equities, buy commodities, buy TIPS... Have a portfolio of inflation-linked assets. That's my 2c
after it happens it'll become completely logical if you don't know how it is in third world countries, just wait a few years and you'll see for yourself http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/current/h6.htm check out the change in M2 YoY, maybe you can guess M3
That's naive... In the end, Mr Trichet will bend over for Mr Sarkozy et al just as smoothly as any other central banker.
Even if the EUR declines 30% the US CPI could well be positive over the next 10 years. One could even argue they're somewhat uncorrelated. How does that make the EUR a good hedge?