MORE evidence of inflation!
OK, I see this as FOUR tiers!
Tier 1, monopolistic importers selling based on the dollar. They get INSTANT feedback, and raise prices QUICKLY! Example? GAS REFINERS! Effect? UP
Tier 2, retailers importing goods priced in foreign currency. They kind of get the message a bit later. Example? WALMART! Effect? UP
Tier 3, retailers of DOMESTIC goods. Example? Dairy, meats, etc.... Result?
UP!
FOURTH?
The consumer! So where are YOU? I say three strikes and you're OUT! OBVIOUSLY, we have a LOT of inflation!
Steve
Tier 1, monopolistic importers selling based on the dollar. They get INSTANT feedback, and raise prices QUICKLY! Example? GAS REFINERS! Effect? UP
Tier 2, retailers importing goods priced in foreign currency. They kind of get the message a bit later. Example? WALMART! Effect? UP
Tier 3, retailers of DOMESTIC goods. Example? Dairy, meats, etc.... Result?
|
May 3, 2011 Inflationary Tuesday: Smithfield CEO: Higher Food Prices Are Here to Stay Here's a zinger of a news story that most commentators haven't bothered to take note of... The CEO of Smithfield Farms, the largest pork producer in the US. Among other things he said: "Maybe to someone in the upper incomes it doesn't matter what the price of a pound of bacon is, or what the price of a ham, or the price of a pound of pork chops is," he says. "But for many of the customers we sell to, it really does matter." Workers can share cars when the price of oil rises, he quips, but "you can't share your food." Mr. Pope also worries about the impact on farmers, who are leveraging up operations to afford the ever-rising price of land and fertilizer that has resulted from the increased corn demand. "There are record prices for livestock but farmers are exiting the business!" he exclaims. "Why? Farmers know they won't make money... Weather is a factor, too. "We've had the luxury for the last three years of extremely good corn crops, with high yields and good growing conditions. We are just one bad weather event away from potentially $10 corn, which once again is another 50% increase in the input cost to our live production." ...Not all companies will survive this economic whirlwind. Mr. Pope recalls what happened the last time there was a surge in corn prices, in 2008: "The largest chicken processor in the United States, Pilgrim's Pride, filed for bankruptcy." They "couldn't raise prices, so their cost of production went up dramatically." Could it happen again? "It darn well could!" Mr. Pope exclaims. ...Mr. Pope says the "losers" here "are the consumer, who's going to have to pay more for the product, and the livestock farmer who's going to have to buy high-priced grain that he can't afford because he's stretching his own lines of credit. The hog farmer . . . is in jeopardy of simply going out of business 'cause he doesn't have the cash liquidity to even pay for the corn to pay for the input to raise the hog. It's a dynamic that we can't sustain." |
FOURTH?
The consumer! So where are YOU? I say three strikes and you're OUT! OBVIOUSLY, we have a LOT of inflation!
Steve
Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path
Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path
Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path