The Business In...'s  Instablog

He's wearing a Jets jersey.

We'll update LIVE if he says anything notable.

After a little bit of football banter, he gets to Europe...

• The problem is not solved, he argues. We've seen this movie several times before, and just printing more money won't help.

• It's time for a "Plan B" he says. 

• Ultimately, there will be haircut on bonds issued by certain governments in the Eurozone.

• If you're buying right now, you're just making a moral hazard bet.

• On the muni market: We are in the midst of a massive adjustment at the states.

• On Bill Gross vs. Meredith Whitney: They're not actually saying much that's different. Both acknowledge the need for massive adjustment. Some are going to make it; some will face way more difficulties. In order to get to $100 billion defaults (Whitney's forecast) you need to stretch, and find some major defaults.

There's a lot of talk about the debt ceiling right now, but the major worry surrounding markets is the potential for a U.S. downgrade.

While Societe Generale don't think we're going to flirt with a downgrade over Republican opposition to the debt ceiling, they do think we already are anyway.

It's just a matter of when, and how fast interest rates rise on our borrowing. Assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended, 200 bp hike in interest rates would push us into AA territory before the end of 2011.

A 50 basis point hike would see use there by 2014.

The Number:

This probably isn't going to be too much of a mover. CPI of 0.5% is a touch hotter than expectations. Core CPI (ex-food and energy) was right in line at 0.1%.

The full announcement from teh BLS is here.

Background: Yesterday we got a hot PPI report that showed producer prices jumping 1.2%. The question of course is: can companies pass these cost increases along? So far the answer has clearly been no, as inflation has drifted lower and lower despite higher commodity costs.

Obviously Bernanke is watching this one:

The official estimates are for headline CPI of 0.4%, and core CPI of 0.1% -- the latter of which is key higher. Some sign that retailers have some pricing power would be quite welcome.

Meanwhile, markets are sliding into the news. Gold is getting shellacked.