When do you think prices will stop climbing?

[HeatherC]

I just ordered heating oil this week at $3.42 a gallon. Then today I saw oil hit $90 a barrel which hasn’t happened since 2014. Went grocery shopping and what used to be around $175 is at least $240.

Think things will start to level out when the feds raise rates? Or things gonna keep climbing sky high?

I feel for so many who are not able to easily absorb these increases.

 

[chickapin parterre]

sky high.....all the weather has backlogged shipments....have to hire more folks at higher wages.....worse orange crop in 80 years of flordia history and sand in all in our yuma veggies. It will only level out when we stop purchasing goods. slow down freeway speedlimits, clean out our pantries of old food, eat less, consume less. now goods are more valuable than our wages.

 

[TheDad00]

Tomorrow

 

[Nagle]

Probably not ever.

 

[GAN]

I'm due to get more oil myself -been stretching it as much as possible. Rate hikes should help but last I heard they don't feel anything crazy will be necessary. The only other option is to consume less/ration ...and not much support for that I'm sure. I think it's more likely that prices don't drop very much and hopefully wages increase over time. The issue is supply ...material can't be moved -demand is too high.

 

[kdonnel]

2 weeks to flatten the rise

 

[GAN]

2 weeks to flatten the rise

Are you talking virus or inflation? . The former would get you penalized with points!

 

[JimMIA]

The big question with petroleum prices is Ukraine. If Russia invades, or even does enough to provoke a response, I'd expect WTI to go well over $100.

We have already drastically reduced US crude capability and now we are in a position where we not only lose one of our big oil import sources, but also have to bail out our allies. Without petroleum, we can't move goods by air, truck, or rail, which will continue to contribute to inflation. And also add to the price of gas at the pumps and heating oil and natural gas for cooking.

And petroleum supply is just part of the problem. We also have rising rents/home prices, rising food costs, dramatically rising costs in service industries -- we're just starting.

 

[JimMIA]

Are you talking virus or inflation? . The former would get you penalized with points!

Yes, and the answer (which I'm sure was in jest) is equally accurate for both.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

I think we will see price increases, incrementally until the pandemic is over. Though price increases have always been added. The issue is that I think we notice them more because the lack of quality discounts. The bigger issue that IF we see an end to this pandemic, the prices won't revert. It will just be the new price, and we will have become accustomed.

 

[GreatLakes]

When the Fed starts to shed some of their inflated balance sheet you'll see some money come out of the market and prices start to stabilize and fall. I'm not sure when that will happen but I'd be surprised if it was before the end of 2023.

 

[JimMIA]

When the Fed starts to shed some of their inflated balance sheet you'll see some money come out of the market and prices start to stabilize and fall. I'm not sure when that will happen but I'd be surprised if it was before the end of 2023.

What they say...is that they are decreasing bond purchases Jan-Mar 2022, and once they are finished with that, they will begin rate hikes and slowly begin unwinding the balance sheet.

I think they will stick to that part of it, and you are right about the effect of reduced liquidity in the market. However, the market is not the economy, so I'm expecting negativity in the market combined with a continued increase in inflation.

IMO, the Fed waited too long, and there is not much they can do quickly to stem inflation. They can and will affect it, but it's going to take months and months. They know they're behind the curve and I wouldn't be surprised to see a 50 basis point hike next month...which will scare the market.

But again, so much depends on Ukraine.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/592562-how-russia-invasion-ukraine-impact-americans-economically

 

[chickapin parterre]

, the prices won't revert. It will just be the new price, and we will have become accustomed.

yep...my bag of M&Ms is getting smaller and I am accustomed..have to learn spanish so I know what candy content I am buying in algdones, mexico.....mexio made food is really cheap...mexico cooking oil here in the us is 2 cents cheaper per oz, so that comes to 1.00 cheaper for a bottle of cooking oil but in algodones where as US brands are same or higher....I guess it is cool in Algodones as a national to be cool walking down the street with a bag of Doritos

 

[John VN]

2nd Tuesday of next week

 

[tvguy]

Well, in the past prices started easing when people stopped buying stuff because it was too expensive.
>When people keep their houses cooler and wear a sweater and buy less home heating oil.
> When people stay home to save money on gasoline
> When people walk right by the M & M's that are too expensive in too small a package.

Good old supply and demand always wins in the end

 

[amylevan]

I don’t think the Fed’s reacted fast enough. It’s going to hurt for a while.

Inflation is at the highest it has been in 40 years, it’s not going to correct just because people turn down the heat or walk past the bag of m&ms. I’m hearing that we are looking at 3-4 rate hikes this year. Let’s just hope we don’t correct ourselves into a recession.

 

[Southernmiss]

Current Inflation is not unique to the US.

 

[neverlandsky]

Inflation is here to stay and/or will continue to rise for several years to come until an anomaly comes along to reverse the current trend. Migration is a huge contributor where money saved is outpacing inflation and will outpace rising interest rates.

 

[LuvOrlando]

All the price instability I see is supply side & expect things will quickly calm down when we start to see more businesses relocate some manufacturing to the Americas so they are drivable, making our supply chains less volatile. Demand is fairly constant, we've actually lost a lot of people from sickness & withdrawing from outside the bubble (indicated by losses in entertainment and leisure industries) so on paper, really, demand should probably be dropping off. On the supply side there are medical disruptions, weather disruptions and policy disruptions to name a few most obvious. There are also the changes in taxes on imports that are intended to allow American businesses better compete which might be also slowly drifting into the mix. Been thinking about recent changes and back in the 90's things cost a bit more upfront but they also didn't break in a month and there was real customer service pride in your work plus honest days work manufacturing jobs & the support jobs (bookkeepers etc) here that paid people bills. There is a lot going on so it'll be bumpy a while until the dust clears but we are tough, I have faith things will calm down in a blink if new businesses are permitted to pop up providing things people want and income to the people who want things, that fact this isn't happening is the thing that troubles me most, it doesn't make sense, the system wants equilibrium.

 

[ronandannette]

Current Inflation is not unique to the US.

Truth. Right now, in the deep throes of Canadian winter, utility prices across the nation have skyrocketed. The pricing schemes here are complex but they are somewhat regulated by various levels of government and the prices fluctuate based on overall demand on local systems. The majority of any given bill isn’t the commodity - it’s various fees and taxes, including a fairly huge federal carbon tax. We just received a natural gas bill (used for heating and our hot water tank) that’s more than double the highest bill we’ve ever paid in this home previously. $360.00 for the month. I’m trembling in fearful anticipation of the electricity bill that’s on its way.

Food and basic sundries are climbing in price faster than a person can really even keep track of. For a family of three, it’s easily costing $100/week more than this time last year, just for everyday stuff. Added together, it’s a potential hit near $1,000/month to simply carry on like we always have. This hurts - adjustments will have to be made. I can’t imagine what many will do whose belts are already over-tight.