Companies Raise Prices

COMPANIES RAISE PRICES AS COMMODITY  COSTS  JUMP

S.O.S. AWARDS    LIARS     THIEVES         HYPOCRITES

S.O.W.  AWARDS         CROOKS    NEWS MISREPRESENTATION

LIES MY MEDIA TELLS ME     NOUVEAU GREED

PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, MOTOKO RICH and WILLIAM NEUMAN

Before you read the article keep in mind who is driving the costs up of everything is the Commodity Brokers the same ones that brought you the Crises of 2008-to present.. Not the producers, farmers,  the farmers, growers and producers are barely making enough to live on until these high powered Brokers are controlled we’ll all be paying  a lot more for everything, they’re the same thieves that brought you what we’re going through now with the banks, mortgage companies etc. . That is what the riots, in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, Yemen and soon Lebanon are all about. It will come down to the simple basics in the end.

New York Times

A package of Oscar Mayer cold cuts. A pair of Nine West boots. A Whirlpool washing machine.

By the fall, people will most likely be paying more for each of them, as rising prices hit most consumer goods, say retailers, food companies and manufacturers of consumer products.

Cotton prices are near their highest level in more than a decade, after adjusting for inflation, and leather and polyester costs are jumping as well. Copper recently hit its highest level in about 40 years, and iron ore, used for steel, is fetching extremely high prices. Prices for corn, sugar, wheat, beef, pork and coffee are soaring. Labor overseas is becoming more expensive, meanwhile, and so are the utility bills to keep a factory running.

“There are cost pressures from virtually everywhere,” said Wesley R. Card, the chief executive of the Jones Group, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein. After trying to keep retail prices flat or even lower during the recession, Jones says prices for its brands will climb 15 to 20 percent by autumn.

When commodity prices started to rise last summer, many manufacturers and retailers absorbed the costs, worried that shoppers would not pay higher prices during the competitive holiday season or while the economy was still fragile.

Many big companies, including Kraft, Polo Ralph Lauren and Hanes, say they cannot hold off any longer and must raise prices to protect some profits.

Whether shoppers will pay is unclear. “Consumers are not exactly in the frame of mind or economic circumstances to say ‘Oh, pay whatever they ask,’ ” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR Inc. “There’s going to be pushback.”

Economists say the increases may eventually show up as inflation, though they are not yet projecting rates that would set off alarms. Despite some fears, inflation has been extremely low, at a rate of just 1.4 percent annually in December. Data for January will be released Thursday, but economists expect inflation will run about 2.5 percent this year.

Some do see the creeping signs of higher inflation, and warn that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates or at least stop pumping more money into the economy. Others argue that such moves would choke off economic growth sorely needed to get companies hiring again.

For consumers, higher prices in stores means there will be a little less extra cash to spend. For companies, profits may be squeezed

making them a little less likely to invest in equipment or to hire aggressively.

“One has to think about these higher prices not as a reason for economic activity to get derailed,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics, “but as a reason why the recovery is slower than might otherwise be the case.”

Given that the price of a gallon of gas is now well over $3 on average, Americans may feel that they are already dealing with higher prices.

Adding to the cost of food won’t greatly distort most household budgets. Food, gas, clothing, personal care products and cleaning and laundry supplies make up less than a quarter of household spending in the United States, according to government data.

People at the bottom of the income scale struggle more as these prices rise, of course, because a larger share of their spending is on such essentials.

To some, the prospect of modestly higher prices is no reason to worry. In fact, rising prices can indicate improving economic conditions. Greater demand from fast-growing countries like China has helped push up the costs of many raw materials — though officials there are worried about inflationary pressures, as are some officials in Europe.

In the United States, the willingness of companies to raise prices shows they are feeling better about the domestic recovery.

The sharp rise in commodity prices since last year has not translated into all new records. Food commodity prices are about 8 percent below the high in the summer of 2008, while energy prices are less than half their zenith. Prices of a basket of other commodities are about 4 percent below the heights of mid-2008.

The cost of raw materials accounts for a small portion of the cost of most consumer goods, as labor, processing and packaging tend to make up a larger share of the price at the cash register. Foods like coffee, meat and milk, which are closer to raw materials, will probably show some of the biggest price jumps.

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A version of this article appeared in print on February 15, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition.

Surprise

A FRENCH DILEMMA                                POURQUOI PAS

ONLY IN FRANCE                                  A FRENCH DREAM

Well if you don’t know it the votes have been cast in the French Senate to make the official retirement age 62, semi, the full retirement at 67, here is your news flash..

As Mme. Lagarde said “You have the right to strike but not block. You have the right to demonstrate but not break.”  They never heard her a typical reaction from angry thoughtless people.

The strikes cost millions of Euro’s not just from the destroying and breaking but causing people to lose their businesses.

A truck driver caught on camera who was trying to pick up gas at one of the refineries responded to one of the strikers who was adamant about him joining the strike and was not sympathetic to their cause. “What about my family and all the ones that depend on gas to get to work, the store, church etc. What about the Gas Station owners who depend on the sale of the gas to keep their doors open what about them?”

Good question what about  them and others like this truck driver? Many of the small gas stations have gone out of business or will need Governmental aide to stay open.  Some the boats in the Harbors sat there for over 35 days their expenses didn’t go on strike and most of them were not oil carriers. This will have an inflationary effect on everything from food to cloths and everything in between.

What’s really revolting is the Gangster rapper want ta be’s who destroyed properties, public and private, costing in the millions, weren’t so active the last week of October when the final vote was cast. Why? Well they were on vacation something that happens around this time every year in France for the schools. Which shows how dedicated they were to their “weak as water” cause. Most of them have never worked a day in their lives and what’s even scarier is that they will have adopt a system like the U.S. if they want to keep their Socialized System going before most of them are in their mid 30’s.

My heart goes out to the ones who believe in their country and want to do everything they can to make life better for their families may they prosper.

The final hour

NOW OR NEVER                   A FRANCO AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

A FAREWELL TO VIOLENCE                             WHAT NOW?

Today October 21, 2010 will be the decisive day whether Sarkozy’s 62 year old retirement age goes into effect.

Whether it does or doesn’t the Unions driven by the hardcore Socialist’s  have wounded their efforts by not coming forth and telling the students and other rioters, supposedly sympathetic to their cause, that violence is not the answer and is not acceptable. Why haven’t they? They don’t know how they know how to complain and disrupt but have no answers on what can be done to rectify and go on. Another reason is if they ignore it long enough it will go away.

Their best argument for keeping the retirement age at 60 is that their fathers retired at that age. What they won’t tell you is that Sarkozy was elected because one of his campaign promises was to reform the retirement system What happened? He’s doing what he promised to do but it’s like most everybody else forgot about that part.

October 19th they burned a school in Le Mans. Now the students have to be placed in other schools putting a burden on already over crowded classrooms and schools and an additional stress on the families concerned.

In Lyon they burned several cars and damaged several businesses, some seriously, plus several public bus stations and other public areas.

In Marsaille the trash has accumulated into huge piles so some most accommodating individuals decided it was their duty to set them afire burning several cars and damaging other property.

The Airports are a nightmare they have them blocked right before you get to the main terminals so the people are getting out of their cabs and wheeling their luggage the rest of the way.

Mme. Lagarde said it best last night on TF1. The Unions have the right to Strike they do have the right to block, The Unions have the right to protest they do not have the right to break, destroy.

There are many people here in France who believe they have a job to do and that when they are prohibited from doing it they have lost the freedom of choice which is in their constitution.

Sarkozy has ordered three of the refineries opened several more will fallow suit.

What the ones who have caused destruction and violence don’t about their country is it takes a long time for justice to prevail but when it does it comes down like a iron hammer and for the ones wearing the masks this can be construed as terrorism.

The Real French News

A FRENCH NEWS STATION           A FRENCH NIGHTMARE

A FRENCH REALITY                           THE FRENCH STRIKES

October 19,2010

If you’re thinking about coming to France now or in the near future you better change your plans immediately.

The strikes here in France, I am an American living just outside of Paris, have turned ugly and violent with no end in sight.

The Unions started out with their magnifications in fairly orderly fashion but when they encouraged the students to participate in their activities it spiraled  out of control almost immediately. Instead of following a doctrine of this is what we believe, instead we’re going to cause havoc, disruption, destruction and raw violence. Most of these so-called students, come from the better off families of Paris, France and Europe. They’re using the excuse of the Retirement fiasco to vent their Gangster Rap inhibitions on the authorities, burning cars, destroying public property as well as beating up journalists who are in the area doing their job. This is freeing up the real Gangsters that are in the gun, drug and other illegal trades to do their deals while the police are trying to keep some type of control.

So far these strikes combined with their destruction and over all violence has cost the French society well into the millions of Euros and does not look like it’s going to stop soon.

What’s really scary is the ones that are blocking the ports and refineries causing a serious gas shortage as it drives the prices up are going to have to pay higher prices at the pump, grocery stores and taxes. What’s even scarier is that the age of  62 is not good enough they should be considering 65 and then compromise.

What will be one of the definite outcomes of this?

If Sarkozy pulls this off it will weaken the Unions but will save the French socialized system at least for now: if he loses he will not be reelected and the PS, Partie Socialist will come into power guaranteeing  inter fighting among the Party and destroying the French Socialized system as it is known today.

Stay tuned for more posts.