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☆ Housing Costs, Inflation’s Biggest Component, Are Poised to Ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Gwynn Guilford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The end is in sight for one of the biggest sources of inflation. Surging housing costs helped keep inflation high this year but have likely already swung into reverse, economists say. The signal comes from private-sector indexes of rents on new leases, which tend to lead the consumer-price index measures by a little less than a year, said Alan Detmeister, economist at UBS .

☆ Gap's slowing sales of baby clothes indicate inflation is deeply hurting families
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Customers are pulling back on spending at Gap and Old Navy — particularly in one specific category that shows just how much families are feeling inflation’s pinch. But Gap and Old Navy said Thursday they’re now seeing less spending on babies’ and kids’ items. “Old Navy customers still have a propensity to buy. More than a quarter said inflation motivated those purchases, and half of parents surveyed sold a secondhand item in the kids’ and baby items category. Mercari said parents of kids 2 and under are the most active secondhand shoppers, according to its survey.

☆ The Inflation Cooldown Is Finally Here
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Justin Lahart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The inflation cooldown might be real this time. The Labor Department on Thursday reported that consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October from a month earlier, less than the 0.6% that economists had forecast, putting them up 7.7% from a year earlier. That compared with an 8.3% on-year gain in September. Even more cheering, prices excluding food and energy—the so-called core that economists and policy makers see as more reflective of inflation’s trend—rose 0.3% from September, versus an expected gain of 0.5%, putting them up 6.3% from a year earlier.

☆ Inflation Strains Voters Across Income Levels Ahead of Midterm Elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( John Mccormick | Bryan Mena | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The economic pain from the highest inflation in four decades is reaching across all income groups and casting a broad shadow over Democrats’ prospects for keeping control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows. Lower-income voters are feeling inflation’s impact the most, but the survey shows the burden of rising prices is also weighing more heavily than earlier this year even on wealthier households. Among those with annual household incomes of more than $150,000 up to $200,000, 26% say rising prices are creating major financial strains, nearly double from the level in March.

☆ How to have an affordable Thanksgiving meal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Casey Barber | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —If you’re feeling ruffled by recent reports that turkey prices are on the rise, don’t panic. As Del Coro explained, the USDA weekly pricing report shows wholesale pricing for commodity birds — not free-range, organic or any other so-called premium descriptor. If you’re feeling adventurous or considering opting out of serving turkey this year, here are some alternatives for the Thanksgiving menu. His Thanksgiving meal often incorporates foods that were more frequently eaten in preindustrial North America. Go plant-basedNo, focusing on plant-based dishes for Thanksgiving doesn’t mean you have to serve Tofurky.

☆ Only the Fed Can Return Gold’s Lost Luster
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After a big rally early in the year, gold has lost much of its shiny appeal. To regain that luster it will need to win against a formidable opponent—King Dollar. But with economists and business leaders still sending contradictory messages on the economy and the Federal Reserve still firmly focused on clipping inflation’s wings, gold bugs could be in for a long wait. Gold prices have taken a beating in 2022. According to FactSet, prices for front-month gold futures contracts are down 19% since notching near-record highs in March—right after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Moody's Analytics' chief economist Mark Zandi cautions that a recession may be on the horizon. In an interview with CNBC's Andrea Miller, Zandi said a recession did not occur in the first half of this year. Zandi called employment levels the "most important indicator[s]" of a recession. Zandi attributed the confusion about whether the U.S. experienced a recession in the first half of this year to the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Moody's chief economist said that if rising prices don't ebb “the only way to get rid of that persistent stubborn inflation would be to push the economy into a recession.” If there is a recession, Zandi said it "probably won’t happen until the second half of 2023."

They heat their home mainly with fuel oil, which costs them $4.57 a gallon, up from around $3.10 last year. Duke Energy customers in Indiana were recently hit with a 7% hike after a temporary 16% increase just this summer. Fuel oil customers often must pay for deliveries up front, and many suppliers have been less willing to offer payment plans because of market volatility, experts said. “I don’t have savings, period.”Brickey and Parks applied for LIHEAP assistance through District Three, a government cooperative geared toward senior citizens in southwest Virginia. They had three months of electricity paid for this past summer, along with $800 worth of fuel oil assistance last winter.

☆ Inflation’s Storm From the Shelter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Justin Lahart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The upward pressure that housing costs have been putting on inflation can now probably be safely ignored. If only there was nothing else going on but the rent. The Labor Department on Thursday reported that consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in September from August, putting them 8.2% above their year-earlier level. Core prices, which exclude food and energy items in an effort to better track inflation’s trend, rose 0.6% on the month, and 6.6% on the year. Both the headline and core measures were above economists’ estimates, dashing any remaining hopes that Federal Reserve policy makers might raise rates by half a percentage point, rather than again by three-quarters of a point, when they next meet in November.

☆ Costco CEO predicts inflation’s turning point, explains how retailer keeps prices so low
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Costco (COST) CEO Craig Jelinek said Tuesday that stubbornly high inflation, which has been straining American consumers, is not going to permanent. Shares of Costco dropped more than 5% on Tuesday, along with the other retailers and most stocks following that CPI print . But during an era where higher prices seem to be the answer to inflation, Cramer asked, how is it possible for Costco to keep prices down? We're always trying to figure out how we can lower prices, not raise prices. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

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