In today\u2019s Steady Investor, we look at current\nnews and key factors that we believe are impacting the market and what could be\nnext for the economy such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supermarkets\nExpecting Higher Prices are Stockpiling Food \u2013 <\/strong>The shoe is on the other\nfoot when it comes to stockpiling at the grocery store. During the throes of\nthe pandemic, it was consumers stockpiling non-perishables like rice, soup, and\nfamously, toilet paper. Today, it\u2019s the supermarkets doing the stockpiling.\nGrocery stores are concerned about rising prices and have been stocking up on a\nwide range of goods from sugar to packaged goods to frozen meat. Some grocery\nstore executives are anticipating high price increases in the near future, and they\nare building inventory to protect profit margins. Executive worries may be\njustified \u2013 General Mills, Campbell Soup, and J.M. Smucker are among a\nsmattering of food makers that have announced rising prices based on higher\ninput costs. At the same time, the pandemic has also pushed grocery sales\nhigher as households cook and eat more at home, with grocery sales rising about\n15% from two years prior.1<\/sup> The food business has ultimately found\nitself in a feedback loop \u2013 consumers are buying more, food retailers are\nstockpiling more, and the increasing demand is putting even more pressure on\nprices and supply chains already squeezed by higher transport costs and rising\nwages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start Planning Your Retirement Today \u2013 It\u2019s Easy!<\/a><\/strong> The Highly-Anticipated\nConsumption Boom is Here, and It\u2019s Giving Workers Leverage \u2013 <\/strong>Spending\nvolume on consumer goods is over 10% higher than it was before the recession,\nbut recent data suggests consumers are pivoting their spending towards\nin-person activities, like restaurants, bars, travel and hotels. The resurgence\nof service-oriented spending has also led to a surge in hiring in the retail\nand hospitality industry, which accounted for about 50% of all hires in June. Restaurants\nand other hospitality businesses added 343,000 jobs in June, while retailers\nsaw a 67,000 jump. Consumer demand begets labor demand, and that\u2019s giving\nworkers leverage in the economy. Average hourly wages for retail workers were\nup 8.6% in June 2021 compared to February 2020 (before the shutdown), and wages\nfor restaurants and other hospitality workers also saw a 7.9% jump. Employers\nhave also been so eager \u2013 and perhaps even desperate \u2013 to attract new workers\nthat they are offering signing bonuses of up to $1,500.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oil and Gas Prices\nKeep Going Up \u2013 <\/strong>Oil prices have soared past $70 a barrel, approaching a\nsix-year high and putting pressure on gas prices across the country. Demand has\nreturned to the global economy and the U.S. faster than supply has kept up.\nLast year, OPEC cut output by 9.7 million barrels a day, but they have only\nretraced about 4 million barrels of that production since. In\nOPEC\u2019s June meeting to increase production, the United Arab Emirates balked at\nan agreement to increase production by 400,000 barrels a day each month through\nlate 2022, even though OPEC data suggests the market needs an additional 2\nmillion barrels a day by the end of the year. Without additional supply, oil\nprices could remain sticky in the months ahead.4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargo Shipping Costs\nHave Soared, Increasing Price Pressures \u2013 <\/strong>The cost to ship containers from\nAsia to the U.S. and Europe is going up fast. The average price to ship a\n40-foot container across the world was $8,399, which is four times the amount\nit cost just one year ago. In just the past two months, the cost has jumped by\n53.5%! But perhaps more importantly, the cost of shipping a container from\nChina to major ports on the U.S. West Coast cost some $12,000, which is also\nremarkably higher than it cost a year ago. The causes of higher shipping rates almost\nall point to supply and demand imbalances \u2013 as U.S. and European consumers get\nvaccinated and re-engage with the economy by spending, demand for goods is\noutpacing business\u2019s ability to restock inventory. The disruptions and\ndislocations to supply chains are creating shipping backlogs and putting\npressure on prices.5<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Are You Ready for Retirement?<\/strong> Here\u2019s the truth \u2013 if\nyou start preparing for your retirement now, you will have a better advantage\nwhen making future financial decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To help you do this, I recommend reading our Retirement\nGuide.6<\/sup> This guide will give you a step-by-step outline of how you\ncan plan for a successful financial future, and it provides our answers to\ncritical questions like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn\nmore about retirement planning, click on the link below to get your free guide\ntoday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grocery stores hoard ahead of higher prices, retail and hospitality hiring boom, shipping costs have doubled in two months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10357,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711\/revisions\/10357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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It\u2019s common for people to feel that they have a lot of time before they need to start seriously thinking about retirement planning. Here\u2019s the truth \u2013 the sooner you plan, the better advantage you will have for your financial future. No matter what state the market is in, building an effective strategy will keep you on track for the long term.
If you want help creating a long-term financial plan and investment discipline, I recommend reading our Retirement Guide. This guide will give you a step-by-step outline of how you can plan for your financial future.
If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more about retirement planning, click on the link below to get your free guide today!
Download Your Copy of \u201cRetirement Made Easy\u201d Today!<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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