[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kristen', 'I')f energy prices are on a sideways climb upwards, than an increase in cost will better prepare us for this permanent mountain. However prices have been going up forever. a can of cola use to be five cents. i just wish there was a complete, official answer. So many voices are arguing different things. Lets just have one collective truth and handle it like adults.

[Pops]

Last year 30% of ALL profit in the US was made by "financial institutions".

Since they don't produce anything, I'm guessing that profit needs to come from somewhere and the somewhere is inflation.

Or is that wrong?

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kristen', 'I')f energy prices are on a sideways climb upwards, than an increase in cost will better prepare us for this permanent mountain. However prices have been going up forever. a can of cola use to be five cents. i just wish there was a complete, official answer. So many voices are arguing different things. Lets just have one collective truth and handle it like adults.

[PrestonSturges]

But isn't it ironic that the GOP now seems to speak entirely in the coded language of Marxist dialectics and the first action of GOP governers was to put millions of workers under direct government control? The moment the GOP gains a measure of control, suddenly they have a Crusader like faith in the infallibility of government.

[notill]

$2.89 for a loaf of bread at Walmart, and it's being forced to raise prices further because of rising commodity prices? I just sold premium hard red milling wheat for $280 ton. 14 cents for that loaf of bread. So what accounts for the big price increases, labor? Transportation? or corporate profits.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('notill', '$')2.89 for a loaf of bread at Walmart, and it's being forced to raise prices further because of rising commodity prices? I just sold premium hard red milling wheat for $280 ton. 14 cents for that loaf of bread. So what accounts for the big price increases, labor? Transportation? or corporate profits.

[notill]

Kansas City Board of Trade, where Hard Red is traded, sits at 9.06 per bushel, or 60 lbs, a little over 15 cents per lb. From my 14 cents, I also pay transportation/destination charges. Still, we're talking a rise in commodity charges here. Wheat fell by 2/3rds over the last couple years, to an historic inflation adjusted low, with little or no decline in retail prices.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('notill', '$')2.89 for a loaf of bread at Walmart, and it's being forced to raise prices further because of rising commodity prices? I just sold premium hard red milling wheat for $280 ton. 14 cents for that loaf of bread. So what accounts for the big price increases, labor? Transportation? or corporate profits.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('notill', '$')2.89 for a loaf of bread at Walmart, and it's being forced to raise prices further because of rising commodity prices? I just sold premium hard red milling wheat for $280 ton. 14 cents for that loaf of bread. So what accounts for the big price increases, labor? Transportation? or corporate profits.

[misterno]

When I go to work every morning, the first thing I do is not checking my emails or eating my breakfast or look at my work email.

The first thing I do is checking USDCNY=X in yahoo screen. This is the value of Chinese Yuan versus USD

It hit all time high last friday to 6.53

Now, why is it important?

I believe It is one of the most important factors in determining the price of oil, bread, corn, soy and every other commodity in the long term.

Everytime Chinese Yuan increases against the USD, an average Chinese' purchasing power increases a bit. There are more than 1.3BN chinese in China and you go head and calculate how much of a potential increase in consumption for corn, pork, soy bean and oil everyday, we are facing.

This is the only reason why we used to have 79 cents and up stores 10 years ago in Houston, 89 cents stores 5-6 years ago and now there are none. All we have is 99 cents only stores selling items in much smaller boxes at a much lower quality. There are several stores in Houston with a title $1.09 now. If you go to dollar tree, most items are priced more than $1.39.

There is no way American manufacturing can compete with chinese manufacturing costs where chinese workers are paid 1/10th of an average american. This means that no matter how high the Yuan increases against USD, the American manufacturing will not pick up or become competitive.

This means Yuan will keep increasing making oil cheaper everyday for an everage Chinese because oil is priced in USD. And everytime Yuan increases, we are becoming poorer, because prices are going up because commodities are priced in USD.

All I can say is, 5 years from now, $3.5/gal of gas will look so cheap.

We are going down so fast, it is just unbelievable.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FranklySpeaking', 'I') recall when Walmart first opened and they trumpeted with huge signs everywhere "Made in America", "Buy American"

[Nefarious]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FranklySpeaking', 'I') recall when Walmart first opened and they trumpeted with huge signs everywhere "Made in America", "Buy American"

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FranklySpeaking', 'I') recall when Walmart first opened and they trumpeted with huge signs everywhere "Made in America", "Buy American"

[evilgenius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oneaboveall', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'T')he Zombie Viper may be on the way out but I think Walmart has like 50 or 60,000 SKUs left...

[evilgenius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nefarious', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FranklySpeaking', 'I') recall when Walmart first opened and they trumpeted with huge signs everywhere "Made in America", "Buy American"

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oneaboveall', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'T')he Zombie Viper may be on the way out but I think Walmart has like 50 or 60,000 SKUs left...

[FranklySpeaking]

Actually guys, I remember that right on their first store signs it used to say "Walmart - Made in America" (at least in Ohio) and I remember the first TV commercials were made with a patriotic pitch "Be American - Buy American - Always at Walmart". And then they progressed to "Check the label" (supposedly if you could find anything for sale in the store that was not made in America, you got a $100 gift certificate or something like that. Its been a while but I remember all the red white and blue pro- American propaganda they spewed for the first 3-5 years of their existence. Am I the only one to remember that fraud? Anyway, I think we should dig up old Sam and send his bones to be buried in China where he is probably a national hero like Chairman Mao.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'I') remember that as well. I also remember when the first Chinese items started to appear they kept on with the 'Buy American' thing.

[FranklySpeaking]

Actually the law is that if "final assembly" is done in a U.S. territory (even Guam or Puerto Rico) it can legally be labeled as "Made In America". Even today, quite a few retailers are still attaching their labels on U.S. soil on goods made in China, Phillipines, etc. and are peddling them as made in America, even the guy who bought the Remington Electric Shavers (remember his TV commercials?). Its sad guys but those New York marketing guys duped the best and brightest of us all. Do you think they moved to China or do they still live amongst us? I think they are even more evil and unethical than the time-share clowns and all those MLMers that stalked us for over a decade. Who do you guys think were the worst unAmerican predators - Exxon and her six sisters?

[crude_intentions]

I remember the stories about the "Made in America" campaign. Sam Walton's body was still warm when they painted over the "Made in America" on all trucks and scrapped it.