In nominal terms and assuming no big change today, Sept will be the 2nd best on record for the S&P 500, a great run of almost 10%. Let’s look at the gain in another context. As is done with economic data to take out the influence of inflation, a REAL calculation is done to deflate the NOMINAL reading in order to take out the noise of higher prices vs volume. Using the CRB index as a market inflation gauge for Sept, the S&P 500 in REAL terms only rose modestly as the CRB index is up 8.7% month to date. This highlights the allure of inflation and higher asset prices from a policy perspective as it creates an image of prosperity but with a much more unstable underpinning.
