The CPI, Cheap to Ship (by container), It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and who was Charles Feeney?
What a difference a week makes. Well, at least a little.
Inflation – the ‘I’ word aka CPI – Consumer Price Index – month over month, came in last week at 0.4%, down from the previous month's 0.6%, but it was higher than expected and so it was met with mixed emotions.
Core CPI only increased month over month by 0.3%. That’s good Good News.
So, what were the year-over-year numbers? Remember, the core excludes food and gas. Or, more accurately, fuel.
The year-over-year numbers are 3.7% for CPI, the same as last month.
For Core CPI, the year-over-year numbers are 4.1%, down from 4.3%.
It’s all good; it just depends on who you talk to. Two sources had the chance of a rate increase going up, and one had it going down.
This just proves you can string all of the economists in the world together, and you still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.
Just don’t look for an Economics Sportsbook in Vegas any time soon.
They are still talking about the huge increase in jobs the week before last: 800,000 job openings were added, bringing the total count to 9.6 million jobs available for the 6.4 million folks unemployed. Here is a breakdown:
Leisure and hospitality added 96,000 jobs in September, above the average monthly gain of 61,000 over the prior 12 months, and has finally returned to pre-covid levels.
That took a while.
Accommodation employment continued to trend up over the month (+16,000) but remains below its February 2020 level by 217,000, or 10.3 percent.
What I’d like to go back to are pre-covid hotel prices. Try and book a room in Vegas over any weekend and see what you pay.
Or Stephenville, Texas. $300 for a Hampton Inn? No, that’s not for the weekend, it’s for a night. The 4H convention must be in town.
Shipping Stuff
Shipping costs from China to the West Coast are down to $1800/container. It was $16,000 in early 2022. That’s GREAT for importers!
On the other hand, the cost of diesel fuel is up, so once it gets to LA/Long Beach, it’ll cost a bit more to get it to the warehouse.
Easy come, easy go. Just put it into your 2024 plan.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
For the Christmas season, estimates are for total spending to rise 3.5%, but online spending will increase 10%.
Amazon will be hiring 250,000 temps for the holiday season, so now you know who you are competing with for your staff during the Christmas season.
And they are not paying minimum wage.
Digital sales will account for more than 25% of all sales.
And for the first time, it is expected that orders from mobile devices will exceed those of desktops. Didn’t they say this last year?
So make sure your website is mobile-friendly if you serve that segment of the population.
As always, the day after you overdose on tryptophan is the busiest shopping day for televisions because that’s when you get your best deal, per consumer studies.
BTW, when you do buy a TV, don’t expect to plug and play. You can certainly plug in, but you’ll have to set up your inputs, Wi-Fi, streaming services, language settings, and download the latest software updates.
Oh, and make sure you have a very good surge protector so you don’t have to go out and buy a TV before the big sales.
69 shopping days until Christmas.
It’s Duty Free…
Who was Charles Feeney?
To quote the Wall Street Journal: “ What’s a billionaire to do if he doesn’t want yachts or mansions, is disinclined to spend more than $15 on a watch, and is satisfied with economy class even on long flights?”
Well, I guess you give it all away. Except for $2 million to cover your retirement.
How much did he give away? $8 billion. And how did he get that $8 billion? Well, gather ‘round lads and lassies, and I’ll tell you a tale…
He was the middle child, born in New Jersey in 1931.
As a boy, he worked as a golf caddie, shoveled snow, and sold Christmas cards door to door. Before college, he was in the Air Force in 1948 as a radio operator and studied Japanese.
At Cornell, he made sandwiches and sold them to students. (See a pattern?)
Years later, he would give almost $1 billion to his alma mater.
While traveling in Europe, he hitched rides by holding a sign that said “English conversations offered”. This guy never stopped working.
In the Mediterranean, he saw opportunities and set up a summer camp for the children of US military officers. He then began selling duty-free liquor, perfume, cameras, and other items to sailors.
That business expanded throughout Europe and then to Asia, where Camus cognac was a top seller.
His chain of stores ultimately became… Duty Free Shoppers.
Growing up in Asia, I saw these stores all the time, and just about every international airport has one.
After he realized he was not really into money, he set up a foundation to give it all away. When he sold Duty Free Shoppers in 1996, that provided $1.63 billion for his foundation.
Mr. Feeney died last week at the age of 92.
He really didn’t take it with him.
As a business owner, you should never stop thinking about what you can do to improve and grow your business, even if it’s a lifestyle business. I talked with two business owners this week; one is always looking for an edge to expand her online and retail clothing store. The other has a key product line that is shipped from Israel. Believe me, both these owners are always thinking about the next step.
Are you?
76 days left in the year.
