Free Republic

Gas Prices Expected To Soar 60 Cents: How That Impacts Your BudgetBy: Diane Lee | News Channel 7 Updated: February 06, 2012 - 4:32 PM GREENVILLE, S.C. - For 16 years John and Clare Coulis have driven the 1200 mile journey to Ontario and back every May. When they started, gas was under a dollar. Now... "I think I want to occupy BP," he said with a laugh. In all seriousness, it is slated to get worse. Analysts predict prices will sour 60 cents from now until May. The main reasons: Oil refiners have cut back on production because of...

So far, during the presidency of Barack Obama, the price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 83 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (AP Photo) During the same period, the price of ground beef has gone up 24 percent and price of bacon has gone up 22 percent. When Obama entered the White House in January 2009, the city average price for one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.79, according to the BLS. (The figures are in nominal dollars: not adjusted for inflation.) Five months later in June, unleaded gasoline was $2.26 per gallon,...

Students drowning in their own student loan debt has caused massive amounts of public outcry because graduates have no way to pay off the cost of their education. Even though sometimes it is the student’s fault for pursuing and graduating with a worthless degree, the problem of the student debt cannot be ignored. The true source of the problem is government intervention in (what should be) a free market education system. As it stands right now, the Federal government is guaranteeing student loans so it looks like Old Uncle Sam is trying to invest in American students and the future...

A Punch To The Mouth – Food Price Volatility Hits The World January 5, 2012Gregory McDonaldPerfect Storms 2011 was an abysmal year for the global insurance industry, which had to cover yet another enormous increase in damages from natural disasters. Unknown to most casual observers is the fact that during the past few decades the frequency of weather-related disasters (floods, fires, storms) has been growing at a much faster pace than geological disasters (such as earthquakes). This spread between the two types of insurable losses has moved so strongly that it prompted Munich Re to note in a late 2010...

The Consumer Won't Look So Hot When Gas Prices Catch Up To Oil Prices Lance Roberts, Street Talk Live Dec. 6, 2011, 3:11 PM Yesterday I pulled into my local gas station and went through the automated motions of filling up my non-green, oil consuming, emission generating vehicle while thinking about my day of meetings ahead of me. While the pump did its job I checked my email and scrolled the web for the latest headlines out of Europe. As the pump shut off I extracted the nozzle from my car and replaced it on the pump while looking up...

OTTAWA -- Republicans turned up the heat on U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to reverse his decision to delay what was described at a congressional hearing as the safest oil pipeline ever proposed. A parade of witnesses appeared at a House sub-committee meeting on energy to defend the safety and economic benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline, and to warn of the consequences should it rupture. And in between partisan sniping between Democrats and Republicans, pipeline junkies learned Alberta-based TransCanada Corp. has adopted 57 additional safety measures, including 21,000 censors linked to satellites to detect problems. "This is the...

Pentagon officials are speaking publicly about the military's new 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator, or MOP, known now as the biggest "bunker-busting bomb" in the world. The Air Force has already received an undisclosed number of these bombs from Boeing, all designed to fit exclusively with the B-2 and B-52 bombers. "It gives us a far greater capability to reach and destroy an enemy's weapons of mass destruction that are located in well protected underground facilities... to a magnitude far greater than we have now," Pentagon Spokesman Capt. John Kirby said at a briefing Wednesday.

Turkey Dinner Costs Up 13%Robert WenzelNovember 10, 2011 The retail cost of menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimmings increased about 13 percent this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s food cost for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47. The costs for nearly everything from cranberries to pumpkin pie are up. but it doesn't stop with the...

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite rose 0.2% on the month to narrow year-on-year declines to 3.8%. Though MarketWatch doesn’t tabulate a consensus, stock futures turned lower in reaction as Bloomberg pegged estimates for a 3.6% annual drop. A separate report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, using prices on transactions backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, showed a 0.1% monthly fall on a seasonally adjusted basis and a 4% year-on-year decline.

Peshawar — Tehreek Taliban Pakistan has threatened the Pakistan state oil to stop supplying fuel to NATO forces; otherwise the Taliban will stop it by themselves. Pakistan state oil is supplying fuel to NATO in Afghanistan through vehicles from Karachi. Oil tankers of the different contractor used their vehicles for supply and supply now runs through Torkham Border and also through Chaman Border. Before TTP, different groups have been targeting the supply vehicles in different areas of the country, but now the Taliban has threatened the Pakistan state Oil. After the Taliban threat, the PSO management demanded security for PSO...

...The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, pushing the increase over the past 12 months up to 3.9% from 3.8% in August... The core rate of inflation, meanwhile, rose a smaller 0.1% in September, keeping its 12-month increase at 2.0%. It was the smallest increase since March. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast consumer price index, which tracks inflation at the retail level, to rise by 0.3% in September. The core rate was expected to increase by 0.2%

<p>Another hot, dry summer has devastated this year’s peanut crop, sending prices for the legume skyrocketing and forcing peanut-butter brands including J.M. Smucker Co.’s Jif, Unilever NV’s Skippy and ConAgra Foods Inc.’s Peter Pan into startling price increases.</p> <p>Wholesale prices for big-selling Jif are going up 30% starting in November, while Peter Pan will raise prices as much as 24% in a couple weeks. Unilever wouldn’t comment on its pricing plans, but a spokesman for Wegmans Food Markets, the closely held supermarket chain in the Northeast U.S., said wholesale prices for all brands it carries, including Skippy, are 30% to 35% higher than a year ago.</p>

<p>The number is out, and it's HOT!</p> <p>PPI hs jumped 0.8%, well above the 0.2% analysts had expected.</p> <p>Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was only up 0.2%, which is still above the 0.1% that analysts had expected.</p> <p>The culprit? Blame food and energy.</p>

...Prices rose 0.3% in September, while economists polled by MarketWatch had anticipated a 0.4% drop...

Unconfirmed Tweet at link. Following...

The head of the world's biggest food company has warned rising food prices could trigger food revolts like they did in 2008. Swiss giant Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck told an Austrian newspaper rising prices were a product of a growing world population, the rise of a middle class in countries like India that is keen to eat more meat, and the increasing demand for water. Comparing the situation to 2008 when food riots took place in many countries Mr Brabeck said: 'The situation is similar. This has become the new reality.' The riots three years ago were triggered when the...

U.S. home prices in July rose for the fourth straight month, according to data released Tuesday, helped by seasonal factors as well as tentative if halting signs of improvement in housing demand. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 0.9% compared to June, to narrow the year-on-year decline to 4.1%.

Food Inflation Reaches "Quite Concerning" Levels In Houston Gus Lubin Sep. 20, 2011, 8:20 AM The rate of food inflation is "quite concerning," according to a Jefferies survey from Houston. This could lead to pressure on manufacturers and retailers: Our pricing survey in Houston once again showed further price increases coming through to retail. Our average basket is now up over 9% in about a year and increased +1.5% since our last visit to the market in July. Clearly, we are now seeing very sizable price movements in our basket and, even in the robust economic climate in Houston, the...

… Beef, veal, pork, eggs and such dairy products as butter, milk and cheese have seen the biggest increases in the past year, said Richard Volpe, an economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The price of groceries rose 5.4 percent from July 2010 to this July, according to the USDA's latest report. ... Now the rising cost of energy, the weaker dollar and growing global food demand are driving the price. Beef and veal prices are expected to increase as much as 8 percent this year, with pork projected to go up as much as 7.5 percent. Beef prices...

Horror show: Netflix losing more customers than expected on price hike, stock plunges 19 pctSAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Netflix's decision to raise prices by as much as 60 percent is turning into a horror show. The customer backlash against the higher rates, kicking in this month, has been much harsher than Netflix Inc. anticipated. That prompted management to predict Thursday that the company --the largest U.S. video subscription service-- will end September with 600,000 fewer U.S. customers than it had in June.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The price of U.S. goods at the wholesale level were unchanged in August as another decline in fuel costs offset an increase in food... The more closely followed core producer price index edged up 0.1% last month to mark the ninth straight increase... Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted no increase in overall producer prices and a 0.2% rise in the core rate.

The cost of U.S. imports dropped 0.4% in August...Imports excluding fuel rose 0.2% last month...Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast import prices to fall 1.0%.

The European Union is expected to announce new sanctions against Syria on Friday, AFP reported. The new sanctions will include a ban on Syrian oil imports and will see the expansion of the EU’s list of people targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban. Four new businessmen accused of bankrolling the regime of President Bashar Assad will be added to the list, diplomats told the French news agency on Thursday. As well, three companies, including a bank, will see their assets in the EU frozen as punishment for the regime's deadly repression of protesters, the sources said on condition...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The gradual improvement in U.S. home prices continued in June, according to a report released Tuesday. Prices rose 1.1% during June from May but are down 4.5% over the past year, according to the closely followed S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index... Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, said the price appreciation might not last long. “This kick will wear off in the fall, when demand weakens and sellers have to give way on price, and prices will start dropping again,” he said in a note to clients.

Hedge Higher Food Prices By Investing In Corn Commodities / Agricultural Commodities Aug 25, 2011 - 06:55 AM By: Money Morning David Zeiler writes: A smaller-than-expected U.S. fall harvest, combined with strong demand, has sown the seeds of higher corn market prices. That will inflate your grocery bill, but it's also an investing opportunity that should persist into next year according to some experts. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently reduced its forecast for the fall corn crop to 12.9 billion bushels from 13.5 billion based on damage from spring flooding and summer drought in several key corn-producing...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures dropped more than 4% Wednesday, trading below $1,800 an ounce and extending losses to a second day as a correction that started after five records in six sessions got much steeper. Gold for December delivery dropped $74.90, or 4.1%, to $1,786.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $30.60 Tuesday to end at $1,861.30 an ounce. Gold last hit a settlement record on Monday, when it finished at $1,891.90 an ounce. Investors booked their profits after failing to conquer $1,900 an ounce, analysts said. “People who...

How To Prepare Your Portfolio For A Spike In Food Prices Kapitall Aug. 24, 2011, 5:48 AM Corn is in nearly every US food product in some form, from Twinkies to animal feed, making corn production the single largest driver of food prices. Here's some bad news: this year's corn yield is less than expected, meaning elevated food prices for the next year. Fabulous! On top of the already stunted economy, high unemployment, outrageous government debt, we can count higher food prices among the catalysts for more food stamps, government subsidies, lower consumer spending, and a greater lean towards more...

Take this with the customary grain of salt that accompanies most breaking reports from urban-warfare theaters, and perhaps especially in Tripoli, where Moammar Qaddafi’s sons are either in custody or acting as tour guides for the capital of Libya.  Rebels now report having reached Qaddafi’s compound, which means that either the regime will fall shortly, or … not:  Libyan rebels battled on Tuesday around Muammar Gaddafi’s headquarters, where a son of the veteran leader had emerged overnight to confound reports of his capture and to rally cheering loyalists for a rearguard fightback.NATO jets flew in support of the rebels, who...

A Bronx boom-and-bust story shows why the nation hasn’t yet recovered from the financial crisis. As the American economy limps through its second “recovery summer,” hobbled by trillions of dollars in bubble-era debt, politicians and regulators should take a long look at an unlikely place: Kingsbridge, a neighborhood in the northwest Bronx. In some ways, Kingsbridge’s credit-bubble experience was no different from the rest of the nation’s. As the bubble reached its greatest size in late 2006 and early 2007, the financial system—aided by dizzyingly intricate instruments and coddled by the government, which had long kept investors from facing the...

Oil trading data that exposed the extensive positions speculators held in the run-up to record high prices in 2008 were intentionally leaked by a U.S. senator, sparking broader concern about industry confidentiality as Congress moves on Wall Street reform. Senator Bernie Sanders, a staunch critic of oil speculators, leaked the information to a major newspaper in a move that has unsettled both regulators and Wall Street alike. In a June 16 e-mail reviewed by Reuters, a senior policy adviser to Sanders discusses how his office received private data with the names and positions of traders and forwarded it exclusively to...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The cost of living for Americans rebounded in July after a rare decline in June, data showed Thursday. The consumer price index, tracking the rate of inflation at the retail level, increased 0.5% in July, the biggest gain since March, the Labor Department said. The growth was above the consensus forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch who had been looking a 0.4% increase.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Producer prices rose 0.2% in July as a decline in energy costs didn’t immediately filter through the rest of the economy, according to government data released Wednesday. The Labor Department said prices rose on a seasonally adjusted basis in July as a surge from tobacco offset a decline in energy costs. Gasoline prices fell 2.8% while tobacco shot up 2.8%, the biggest gain in more than two years. The cost of light trucks, pharmaceuticals as well as beef and veal also played a role in the advance. Excluding food and energy, core PPI rose 0.4%, the largest...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Housing markets struggled through another tough quarter, this time during the spring buying season, the strongest time of year for home sellers. Prices of existing homes fell 2.8% in the three months ended June 30 compared with the same period in 2010, according to a report issued Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). For Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, the report was a continuation of a trend that began in 2009. "Median home prices have been moving up and down in a relatively narrow range in many markets, which shows a stabilization trend," he...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The cost of living for Americans fell last month for the first time in a year, mainly because of a drop in gasoline prices, the Labor Department reported Friday. The consumer-price index fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in June. Energy costs sank 4.4% — the largest decline since December 2008 — as the price of gas and household electricity decreased. Gas prices fell 6.8% and electricity declined 1.6%, the biggest drop in 14 years. The cost of food rose 0.2%, though it was the smallest monthly increase in 2011.

<p>A lot has been written about how China's growing taste for meat with rattle the global food supply.</p> <p>Wholesale cheddar-cheese prices have rallied 49 percent this year as the U.S. shipped more than twice as much to Asia in the first four months of 2011 as a year earlier, U.S. Dairy Export Council data show. South Korea, the region’s biggest buyer, almost tripled imports while China’s more than doubled.</p>

With gold sitting very close to all-time nominal highs, we thought you might like the following charts from Nomura on what drives gold's movement. Their report is titled: "What drives gold?"

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. wholesale prices eased in June as the cost of energy posted the biggest monthly drop in two years, the government reported Thursday. The Labor Department said its producer price index fell 0.4% last month, marking the first decrease in one year. The decline matched the forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Energy costs sank 2.8%, mostly because of falling gasoline prices. Food prices rose 0.6%, however.

Despite recent price improvements nationally, only five markets in the country are expected to see home-price gains for the remainder of 2011: Washington, New York, Orlando, Dallas and San Francisco. That’s right, Orlando, Fla., where prices have fallen 63% from their peak. This is according to Clear Capital’s home data index forecast, released Friday. The company provides real-estate valuation and risk assessment information for financial institutions. Granted, prices are expected to be up only 0.7% through the remainder of the year in Orlando, said Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics for Clear Capital. “This is really a drop in...

In an effort to curb air pollution in downwind states, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ordered utilities to either clean up or shut down older coal-fired power plants in 27 states in the eastern half of the U.S. The order, which comes in response to a court ruling, requires utilities to install devices that slash emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides — byproducts of burning coal that react with the atmosphere to form the particles that cause soot and smog. "No community should have to bear the burden of another community's polluters, or be powerless to prevent air...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized stronger regulations for Wisconsin and 26 other states aimed at curbing air pollution from long-distance sources. The rules will help those states fight ozone and particle pollution caused by power plants in Illinois, Indiana and other states. But Wisconsin utilities - whose pollution can contribute to air-quality problems elsewhere - will also need to find ways to reduce their own emissions. The likely result: Higher electric bills in the coming years. A group of power companies known as the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity called the action one of the most...

The Kentucky Utilities Electric Power Plant in Ghent, shown here in a 2002 file photo, is one of some 600 coal-fired power plants in the US. At least 86 older plants will be forced into early retirement as a result of a new EPA rule, unveiled Thursday. The EPA’s tough new air pollution regulations will force scores of older, dirty, inefficient plants to shut down. Those that remain open must dramatically clean up their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency hopes these and other measures will improve air quality across 27 states. Effects should appear relatively quickly. Under the new Cross-State...

Some relief from high gas and food prices could be on the way. Wholesale food prices fell last month by the most in nearly a year, and gas prices keep dropping after peaking in May. A separate survey suggests executives are feeling more optimistic and will hire more in the second half of this year. It amounted to welcome news Tuesday after a rough patch that has stoked worries that the economic recovery is slowing. More jobs and lower prices would both give Americans more money to spend on other things and rejuvenate economic growth. Food prices at the wholesale...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. wholesale prices rose in May at the slowest pace in 10 months as the cost of food fell and the increase in energy prices tapered off, the government reported Tuesday. Food costs dropped 1.4% last month, owing mainly to lower vegetable prices, to mark the biggest one-month decline in almost a year. The price of food has fallen twice in the past three months, although food costs are still 3.9% higher compared to one year ago. Energy prices, meanwhile, rose 1.5% in May, the slowest rate since September. A surge in fuel costs have push wholesale...

HOLY COW: Robert Shiller Could Easily See Another 25% Drop In Home Prices Gregory White Jun. 9, 2011, 12:24 PM If home prices fall another 10 to 25%, that "wouldn't surprise me at all," Robert Shiller told Reuters Insider today. Shiller says that the recovery is at risk right now, and a further rise in unemployment would hint that another recession was imminent. Today, initial jobless claims rose again, coming in higher than analyst expectations. Shiller says he doesn't see "any evidence" that real estate is coming out of its bearish cycle, that began in 2006. The latest Case-Shiller data...

Big Oil. We love, LOVE, to hate Big Oil. As we’re paying more and more at the pump, and as we continue to flounder in this post recession economy, it’s hard to look at the Big Oil companies , their profits and think anything other than greed. But is that fair? Let’s check. Recently, the big oil companies announced their profits for the first quarter of 2011. And they are impressive numbers to be sure: ■Exxon Mobile – $10.7 billion ■Chevron – $6.2 billion ■ConocoPhilips – $3.0 billion THAT is a lot of billions. A LOT! But is it really...

The price at the pump has increased 28% in just the last four months, 116% since Barack Obama took office.  The reaction from the White House and the Democrats?  Punish the energy industry with $85.5 billion in new taxes – a penalty that will further discourage domestic production and sure to be passed on to consumers driving prices even higher. The President says that oil and gas should pay their "fair share."  I did a little checking and found that the industry pays an average 41.1% of net income in taxes compared to 26.5% for all other S&P industrials.  Only...

If you've tried to buy a used car recently -- a lot of people are finding it hard to get what they want. There is something of a used car shortage going on. News 10NBC found out there are a number of factors why there are fewer used cars out there. One is -- more people are holding onto their new cars longer but also, there are fewer rental cars coming on the market and fewer people are leasing vehicles so therefore -- fewer of those cars are out there. Joan Kamisch is trading her 2000 Chevy Lumina for a...

by Thurston Howell Everywhere you go people are talking about gas prices. One of the most common questions: WHY does the price of gasoline IMMEDIATELY skyrocket at the pump the very day that oil prices –rise- but barely move when oil prices plunge? That’s a reasonable question to ask as we all know that the price they paid for that gas already under ground didn’t cost them the new, higher closing price of that day. They justify this by attributing the new higher price to... (continued)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The prices that American consumers paid for goods and services rose 0.4% in April, with higher gasoline costs accounting for more than half the increase, the government reported Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the consumer-price index, which tracks the cost of living, to increase 0.4% in April. Consumer prices have jumped an unadjusted 3.2% over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since October 2008. As recently as November, the 12-month increase was 1.1%. Surging oil prices accounted for the bulk of the CPI increase, as the energy index jumped 2.2% last month. Energy prices...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. wholesale prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in April, driven once again by surging fuel costs, the government reported Thursday. A sharp increase in oil over the past seven months has fueled a spike in wholesale prices. Wholesale costs have jumped an unadjusted 6.8% in the past year, the largest 12-month increase since September 2008... The more closely followed core producer index rose 0.3% in April. The core index is usually viewed by investors and the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of inflationary pressure because it excludes the volatile food and energy categories.