Inflation is easier to read when you separate shocks from persistence. Desk note: Some price moves are abrupt one-offs. Others feed into wages, contracts and expectations. Markets care far more about the persistent layer. Why investors care: That distinction changes how central banks react and how long investors should care about the move. Translate it into behavior: An energy spike matters differently if it fades quickly than if it seeps into services and wage bargaining. Where people usually get tripped up: The mistake is treating every CPI surprise as the same inflation story wearing a different headline. Keep this nearby on the next review: Before reacting, ask what mechanism would still matter here if the headline disappeared tomorrow. That is usually where the edge is: not in the vocabulary, but in the structure underneath it.