Art Cashin On CNBC, June 17, 2008

Here's a brief paraphrase of Art's comments with Joe and Carl this morning... As you know from reading this blog, he's one of the only useful CNBC contributors.

CNBC: Art, what's most intriguing to you today?

Art: Well, first of all, the possible rate hike died at 8:30 Friday morning when the unemployment numbers came out. They can't raise rates with rising unemployment. If they did, they'd probably face riots.

Also, crude oil had a frustrated breakout attempt yesterday. I'm watching all the hearings about trading in crude and speculators.

CNBC: Art, why is "speculator" such a dirty word right now?

Art: I don't know... I remember Bernard Baruchs comment about speculators looking ahead. They try to figure out what's on page 13 today, that will be on page one tomorrow.

CNBC: Headline inflation came in at the fastest pace in 6 months. What can the Fed do?

Art: The Fed is trapped for now. They want to jawbone it... inflation is going up all over the world. The romance countries are saying, our economies aren't doing that well, put that gun (raising rates) back in your pocket.

For now, central banks around the world are dealing with rising inflation and weak economies.