As we went into December and energy was in that hyper-inflation stage, we looked at measures to cut down the costs.

Inflation is down to 1.4% excluding energy, so there's absolutely no inflation pressure.

have been beating the drums about worrying about higher inflation, and so far, other than energy, we haven't had higher inflation. (But) I would say earnings are doing quite well, so I think that's helped to keep the market from having another bad week.

The Fed is keeping an eye on core inflation because they were concerned about prices spilling over from energy and commodities to the rest of the economy. This increases the odds that interest rate increases can remain measured, a quarter-point at a time.

We're going to have high energy prices, a little bit more inflation. Underlying inflation is going to be a little bit higher, but not seriously higher and I still feel good about the overall economy.

This is a big surprise, it's the core of inflation that's falling. Energy prices were expected to fall but the decline in prices for manufactured goods and services was not.