The ugly beast of inflation has reared it's head and the stock market is reacting.  According to CNBC, this is the worst rise in inflation since 1982:   The consumer price index for all items rose 0.6% in January, driving up annual inflation by 7.5%. That marked the biggest gain since February 1982 and was even higher than the Wall Street estimate. Core inflation rose 6%, which also was a notch above expectations. Real earnings for workers increased just 0.1% on the month when accounting for inflation. Weekly jobless claims declined to 223,000, below the 230,000 estimate.  We also discuss the acquisition of Death Row Records by the rapper Snoop Dogg, and what this means for long-term branding in the hip-hop music industry.  I think that Snoop is going to do great things with the asset and that the failure of Death Row was a reflection of bad economic culture.   You can join the Dr Boyce Watkins Stock Market investing class by visiting TheBlackStockMarketProgram.com.