Bernanke Takes Aim at China

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke fired back amid criticism at home and abroad of the Fed's easy-money policies, arguing that China and others are causing global problems by preventing their currencies from strengthening as their economies boom.

By keeping their currencies artificially weak, Mr. Bernanke argued in Frankfurt Friday, China and other emerging markets are allowing their economies to overheat, preventing trade imbalances from adjusting and worsening what he called a "two-speed" global recovery.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703374304575623144102357582.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Gary Shilling Sees `Significant' Stock Selloff Within 12 Months

“I don’t think it’s enough to make a great deal of difference,” Shilling, 73, president of the investment research firm A. Gary Shilling & Co. in Springfield, New Jersey, said in a telephone interview. “The earlier QE1 didn’t and I don’t think this will, either. The economy is weak and it doesn’t take very much of a shock to push it into negative territory. I don’t think that’s enough to justify where stocks are now.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-12/gary-shilling-sees-equity-selloff-within-year-as-fed-fails-to-fix-economy.html

Gap, Wal-Mart Clothing Costs Rise on `Terrifying' Cotton Prices

Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and other U.S. retailers may have to pay Chinese suppliers as much as 30 percent more for clothes as surging cotton prices boost costs.

“It’s a little terrifying to deal with cotton suppliers now,” said Vicky Wu, a sales manager at Suzhou Unitedtex Enterprise Ltd., a closely held, Jiangsu province-based clothes maker that counts Gap and J.C. Penney among its clients.

Cotton futures in China have surged more than 70 percent this year and were at a record earlier as the global economy emerged from recession, allowing people to spend more on clothes. Production of the fiber in China, the world’s biggest user and importer, is forecast to lag behind demand for a 12th year, cutting its stockpile to the smallest since 1995, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-16/gap-wal-mart-clothing-suppliers-raise-prices-on-terrifying-cotton-costs.html

Secret Walmart Survey Shows Inflation Already Here

There might not have been a second round of quantitative easing, if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shopped at Walmart.

A new pricing survey of products sold at the world’s largest retailer [WMT 54.13 -0.21 (-0.39%) ] showed a 0.6 percent price increase in just the last two months, according to MKM Partners. At that rate, prices would be close to four percent higher a year from now, double the Fed’s mandate.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40135092