Mainstream financial media have hailed December's inflation data as good news—CPI year-over-year growth of 2.7%, with core inflation at only 2.6%, 0.1 percentage points below expectations. The question is, does this really mean anything? Just look at the performance of gold and silver. These two precious metals are hitting new all-time highs, and this is the most genuine reflection of inflationary pressure. Instead of focusing on the filtered core CPI data, it's better to pay attention to what the market itself is saying. The price signals of precious metals often reveal more than carefully crafted indicators.