Image to the left (click here).
Not really feeling the pandemic except for fuel costs I ventured into a convenience store. The costs were double as what I recalled from about six months ago. I looked for a reasonsably priced bottle of soda, it didn't exist. Every bottle of soda no matter the manufacturer or variety or flavor was at least double the cost from not long ago. It was not unusal to walk into a convenient store and see ads all over the place about items that were BOGO. The plastic bottle of sodas were usually selling for 2 or 3 of the soda for the price of one. Today, the BOGO is gone and the bottles are ridiculously expensive at $2.50 at the very least.
As I glanced across the shelves of beverage bottles there was one standard who's cost as not changed in the least, "Arizona Iced Tea." It was possible to still purchase the tea for 99 cents a can. I grabbed up four of the tall cans with a variety of flavor.
I mentioned Sunday Night the inflation rate was a dream come true for Wall Street. I stated or at least tried to state the consumer prices were artifically elevated and it was a strategy for profits. I still believe that today. I especially believe that more than ever when I discovered the sole survivor of inflation, "Arizona Iced Tea."
The stores carrying inflated prices for every commodity is sells are creating a huge consumer backlash that will cause hardship for manufacturers. The American consumer hasn't really changed, except, they might have more pocket change for such purchases in a convenient store since wage labor is receiving better pay.
American consumers will move away from the expense and into coping with such hideous prices of their favorite items. Wall Street has every reason to be worried. Just because every soda bottle now sells for the same inflated price does not mean the consumer will surrender. Quite the contrary. There are a lot of alternative including "make at home soda." What is happening is a crime. It is price gouging and there is no doubt it is deliberately done by CEOs to reward stockholders.
Well. Guess what?
The numbers of items provided to consumers are going to need warehouses because the amount that is being produced is not being purchased. So, while the global pandemic caused a variety of factors that effect corporate profits, they as always are their own enemies. Wall Street should be ready to accept the judgement of consumers and take back their unsold and very expensive products. It isn't that the American consumer will surrender to high prices and be grateful when they drop just a bit of where they are now, they are finding alternatives.
In that convenient store, "Arizona Iced Tea" shelf was the only one where every inch of the shelf wasn't packed with product. Consumers will look for the bargain today and in the future. The consumer prices have to come down otherwise Wall Street is headed for a huge crash because WE WON'T PAY IT!
Energy needs to be addressed. Get over it.
