For the currency markets I follow, and every other financial market right now, inflation is the buzz word. Each and every new report of rising prices releases new concern — whether the threat is revealed in Brazil, the United States, Europe or even your local grocery store. No one likes forking over more cash this month than they did last month ... for anything. But this inconvenient fact is being increasingly realized across the world. And that's where currencies come into play. Currencies are the medium of exchange you use on a daily basis to purchase goods and services. And you depend on that purchasing power holding its value. Soaring inflation means, among other things, that the credibility of the legal tender in your wallet is being called into question. ...

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Mexico’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 7.75% Friday, warning that the rate of inflation may exceed its previous forecast. “The recent inflation dynamic is worrying,” Banco de Mexico’s five-member board said in a statement. “The balance of risks for inflation has worsened.” Consumer prices in Mexico jumped nearly 5% in May from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 2004, according to Bloomberg News. The government has issued a price freeze on tortillas, cooking oils, beans and roughly 150 other items this year to ensure its population is adequately fed. The decision surprised many analysts as it flouted the country’s president, Felipe Calderon, who has hinted that borrowing costs are already too high. Still, inflation demanded Mexico’s attention as soaring food and energy costs have resulted in ...

Here is a nutty thought.Some folks want to impose a windfall profits tax on the oil companies because of how much money they are making. The profits are obscene these people say.I have never heard anyone define obscene but wouldn't obscene have to be indexed to inflation?Some other folks feel that the gub'ment's inflation data is cooked in such a way as to minimize the true rate of inflation because of various COLA requirements for entitlement programs.Wouldn't windfall profits inflation indexing be an incentive for cooking the inflation numbers upward? The COLA indexing an incentive to cook the numbers downward? Which one would win?If more taxes could solve problems, not have unintended consequences and be good economics then people would be all for it but the reality is higher taxes do not solve problems, do have unintended consequences and is ...

Neither wealth nor the size of an investment portfolio mitigates the effects of inflation. The poor feel the deleterious effects sooner, but uncontrollable growths in operating expenses can cripple even giant corporations.

The stock market is an empowering means of maintaining real values of cash inflows. This investment route is egalitarian. It also allows an additive approach. Some of today’s most influential investors have made modest entries into a stock exchange not so long ago. The system of ADRs allows U.S. investors to buy stocks from countries where inflation may be lower than at home.

Four stock strategies can keep investors ahead of inflation:

1. Let the dividend track records guide stock picks. When did the corporation last skip a dividend? Does the past Return on Average Equity exceed the forecast rate of inflation? 2. Which stock has a Beta of around one? Does it belong to an industry with superior prospects in an inflationary

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