good thing that food and energy prices aren't 'real' inflation ...
... otherwise US consumers would be in big trouble LOL
from a professional investor BBS -
(snip)"Just a fyi...I having been on the inside of food distribution industry I thought you would like to know what is coming down the pike to the consumer..
Starting in July we went from a 5.6% inflation to 7.2% in August to 9.1% in Sept and now in October we jumped to 13.2%
Now this is not just canned goods, beef, chicken etc but also includes paper, smallwares, and plastic forks and knives which is used in our industry..
As a aside.. Taylor farms one of the largest and best known tomatoe packers in Florida is going out of business.. Drought, high cost of land, regulations and a host of outside their control problems have done them in..
These were smart businessmen and with the markets for tomatoes staying high you would have thought they could have lasted.. this is happening a lot in the fresh fruit and veg industry..
Below the radar is a lot of farmers are going to have to move their operations to Mexico due to immigration problems, high cost of land and especially water woe in California and Florida..
But back to the issue coming at the consumers will be an exponential increase in the cost of food... Along with energy IMO will cause 2008 to be the year of woe....."(snip)
unfortunately, for clubs that cater to customers who aren't 'rich', rising grocery bills and rising gasoline / utility bills will probably translate into a reduction in spending on non-essential luxuries like lap dances !