The Hong Kong Monetary Authority kept its base rate at 4 percent on Wednesday, tracking the US Federal Reserve's decision to sit tight. HKMA also flagged that Washington's inflation fight is not over, which is central-bank-speak for "don't get comfortable." Meanwhile Home prices have now gone up for 13 straight months, and Hongkong Land just posted a 470 percent jump in profit. So somewhere a banker had a very good Wednesday.

Here's the bit nobody says out loud: none of that touches the noodle stall. Rice is up, oil is up, gas bottle refills are up, and none of that has anything to do with what the Fed does with a decimal point. The rate holds because Hong Kong's dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so we ride whatever mood Washington is in, whether or not it matches the mood in Sham Shui Po. Watch what actually moves your rent, not what moves the headline.