Inflation snapshots: December 2009

[jmdpet]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

An example of "convenience" fees. Note that you are charged an extra $1.95 for printing on your own printer using your own paper and ink.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

TicketBastard has been running that scam for years now. They got out ahead of the online scalping business.

And they make it next to impossible to buy tickets at the actual box office in order to avoid all of those extra fees.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

AK Steel raises carbon steel products prices by USD30 per ton
Wed. December 09, 2009; Posted: 04:47 AM

This will apply to all new orders accepted for shipment on or after 1 January 2010.

AK Steel said that the price increase is in response to increased demand for carbon steel products, as well as the need to recover higher costs for steelmaking inputs.

Previously-announced price increases of USD20 per ton for carbon hot rolled products and USD30 per ton for carbon cold rolled and coated products will also take effect with 1 January 2010 shipments.

[LorenS]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Ice cream has gone from 1/2 gallon to 1.75 quart to 1.5 quart containers over approximately the last year or two. What's more curious is that milk has been declining over a lot of that time. Milk is down to around $2 per gallon from almost $4.

[jpatter666]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Ice cream has gone from 1/2 gallon to 1.75 quart to 1.5 quart containers over approximately the last year or two. What's more curious is that milk has been declining over a lot of that time. Milk is down to around $2 per gallon from almost $4.

But sugar has been on a tear....

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Ice cream has gone from 1/2 gallon to 1.75 quart to 1.5 quart containers over approximately the last year or two. What's more curious is that milk has been declining over a lot of that time. Milk is down to around $2 per gallon from almost $4.

Anecdotally, there's a fair bit of built up milk solids a couple places around the world that paralleled/echoed oil prices with many suffering the result of having put production in overdrive chasing last year's dairy prices......dairy prices since collapsed and now appears to have come off the bottom in the last few months........the jury is out on what would happen if china pops.

But since most western dairy producers have huge energy cost inputs........when energy prices make their climb.....dairy prices will eventually echo at the same time energy inefficient dairy businesses are slaughtered...again.

Just my 0.02c

[GRG55]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

A thread for recording some on the ground anecdotes of inflation in action.

Prego sauce - one 'before' and one 'after'

Looks fine right?


Well, a closer look at the sizes...


And a shot of the expiration dates...


There you have it: 3 months apart, 8.2% less product.

Geezus man, get with the program. Don't you know that the official Federal Reserve handbook "Monetary Policy for Dummies" states that diminishing product size is DEFLATION, which requires even lower interest rates and more money supply. I'm with Ben on this one...:rolleyes:

[strittmatter]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Gotcha!

Reading this "act of goodwill" press release in the context of this thread makes for a good little chuckle.

General Mills Offers Favorite Kids' Cereals with 75 Percent Less Sugar

"We listen to our consumers and we know that ‘choice' is important in their purchase decisions,” said Abbie Willing, marketing manager, General Mills New Enterprises. “Our new reduced-sugar cereals are a ‘win/win' for parents and their children. Parents now have an option of serving reduced-sugar cereals, while still giving their kids the same great taste and popular brands they love.”

http://www.generalmills.com/corporat...5334&catID=227

[derelict54]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Cash for clunkers got some good cost push inflation going, EJ called it spot on. Cash for appliances next.......look for more cost push inflation as surviving companies look to make up margins after surviving the current market bloody royal. Once you start reading about more private equity high leverage buyouts defaulting on their obligations we can kiss the dollar goodbye.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN189921820091118

[B]Autos, energy push up U.S. Oct consumer prices[/B]

Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:35am ESTaddImpression("10036173_Related News");removeImpression(); addImpression("10036174_Related News (Auto)");[B]Related News[/B]

October CPI seen rising Wed, Nov 18 2009PREVIEW-US OCT CPI seen +0.2 pct, core CPI +0.1 pct Wed, Nov 18 2009Industrial output growth slows, inflation quiet Tue, Nov 17 2009UPDATE 1-US producer prices point to benign inflation Tue, Nov 17 2009INSTANT VIEW: Wholesale inflation tame in October Tue, Nov 17 2009removeImpression();             WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in October, chiefly from increases in energy and motor vehicle costs, according to government data on Wednesday that showed the economy may have to confront some inflation threats during its recovery from the worst recession in 70 years.
The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index jumped 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis -- more than the 0.2 percent increase analysts polled by Reuters had anticipated -- after rising an unrevised 0.2 percent in September.
Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose a more moderate 0.2 percent.
A spike in prices on used cars and trucks and new vehicles accounted for more than 90 percent of the rise in core prices, the department said. It was the biggest increase in new vehicle prices since 1981.
Analysts had expected the government's car buying program, known as "Cash for Clunkers," this past summer to have a lingering effect on consumer prices through October.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Fasten your seatbelts going to be a hell of a ride.

[flow5]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Great picture. Stealth inflation. It's stealth stagflation, business stagnation accompanied by concealed (incalculable) inflation.

The H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks shows that bank credit on Oct 2008 stood @ $11,985 trillion and has declined to $11,853 trillion on Nov 25, 2009, or bank credit has remained relatively constant.

On the Z.1 release: "F.1 Total Net Borrowing and Lending in Credit Markets":

TOTAL NET LENDING: c. $4,501 trillion in 2007. It has collapsed to c. (-)$875b which covers up to the 3^rd quarter of this year.


However, (commercial bank + monetary authority lending), as a percent of total lending was .16% in 2007, then .66% in 2008, and lastly $2,575 trillion higher than total lending thus far in 2009 (but c. half $1,077,834b of this total are interbank demand deposits held idle at the District Reserve Banks-or excess reserves).

The point is that the commercial banks have not suffered disintermediation overall; however Paul McCulley's "Shadow Banking System" has been ripped apart. And the Board of Governors has just tried to reflate, instead of letting our legislators fix non-bank lending operations.

That is the Central Bank has placed too much reliance upon the commercial and Reserve banks to jettison the economy from this downswing. We can only expect more of the same.

[fliped42]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

local chinese take-out...

a year ago... 50% rice, 30% fresh veggies, 20% tender beef... flank?

today... lunch plate... 80% rice, 15% old cheap veggies & 5% shoe leather beef... shoulder?

tossed a piece to my lab and she chewed it before swallowing. she never does that.

price up 50 cents to $6.00 from $5.50.

early stages of inflation?

We buy appliances for our projects and a high end manufacturer just raised its prices 4%. It is also delivering in 5 weeks because it shut all its factories down and is only producing to order. +1 to EJ my first run in with supply induced inflation.

[cjppjc]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

My favorite cheap coffee now comes in a 10.3 ounce can with about ten percent unfilled at the top.:eek:





My favorite coffee is over 10 dollars a pound.




It's so good, I do treat myself every once in a while.

[c1ue]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Another inflation anecdote: visiting family and was taken out to Denny's.

Orange juice ordered: much larger glass than previous time (at least 2 or 3 years ago). But, it was Sunny D or equivalent and not actually orange juice.

Sausage now chicken.

Portions on everything but one person's soup/salad were noticeably smaller (25% to 50% less meat).

Tortillas were roughly 2 inches in diameter smaller than their warmer (flour).

No more Salmon on the menu anywhere - only Tilapia.

Outside of the $5.99 Grand Slam, nothing was less than $7.49. Average around $8.

[metalman]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

Another inflation anecdote: visiting family and was taken out to Denny's.

Orange juice ordered: much larger glass than previous time (at least 2 or 3 years ago). But, it was Sunny D or equivalent and not actually orange juice.

Sausage now chicken.

Portions on everything but one person's soup/salad were noticeably smaller (25% to 50% less meat).

Tortillas were roughly 2 inches in diameter smaller than their warmer (flour).

No more Salmon on the menu anywhere - only Tilapia.

Outside of the $5.99 Grand Slam, nothing was less than $7.49. Average around $8.

oh, look... wsj sez the usa's new currency poverty has created a hot new dining trend :rolleyes:

Restaurant of the Future?

A new model is changing the dining landscape across the country. The rise of small plates, big bars and hotel restaurants.

Snacks Replace the Meal

THE BAZAAR: Serves only tapas, or small plates, which can be ordered a la carte or as part of a multicourse menu.

THE FUTURE? Small-plates restaurants have been growing throughout the decade, but in the past year have made a quantum leap in popularity as restaurateurs look for ways to offer customers cheaper food without appearing to discount.

we heard it here first!

[Starving Steve]

Re: Inflation snapshots: December 2009

I mean no offense to you, KGW, but this list of hazards seems suspect. I don't use fabric softener myself, but there are a couple things about this list which ring warning bells.

Ethanol is, of course, what people drink in alcoholic beverages. Obviously, a lot of alcohol isn't good for you, but there is such a thing as a negligible dose. We get less exposure to ethanol from fabric softener than from intentionally imbibing alcoholic beverages, so it is odd to cite ethanol as a hazard in this case. The fact that ethanol is included in this list signals that the writer is disingenuous -- they are on a search for anything that sounds dangerous, without regard to any rational metric by which to assess the danger presented. Frankly, that makes me question the intent of the list, and the integrity of the rest of the information presented.

In my opinion, any list of "dangerous" chemicals which includes common drinking alcohol -- and which lists chemicals as being "dangerous" but does not say what levels of exposure are dangerous or what levels are present in the product being critiqued -- is a propaganda hit piece.

I would NEVER believe anything that the E.P.A. tells you, especially their toxicity reports.

Taconite-tailings dumped into Lake Superior were supposed to cause cancer, but they didn't. The EPA said that the tailings were asbestos-like and would cause cancer in those who drank Lake Superior water. That was an EPA lie that cost hundreds of jobs when the taconite plant at Silver Bay, Minnesota was closed by the EPA. And no link between taconite-tailings and cancer was ever found in all of the years that taconite has been in Lake Superior water.

The taconite plant at Silver Bay, Minn. is now open again, and Lake Superior is doing just fine. The lake's water is just fine to drink, just as it always was.