The chart of the week is once again focused on INFLATION! We are all tired of talking about it, but prices continue to rise on a year-to-year basis. As a reminder, the hope is for a slowing of price increases, inflation, and avoiding an overall drop in prices, which would signal deflation. As the chart shows, many areas continue to grow faster than broad market inflation. One significant area to highlight is the high price of restaurant meals, which have recently garnered attention. The bottom three price categories all point to lower travel/vacation costs with gas, airfare and rental cars all falling in price by more than 6% in the past year. Lastly, on a positive note, earnings continue to rise at a faster pace than inflation, which should help pay for the higher-cost items.