As I write this, oil remains priced near $85 per barrel, just off the 6-month high of over $86 and up 15% year-to-date. And the latest CPI print showed that prices are up 3.5% from March 2023.
But, guess what else is coming soon? Summer vacation.
We’re facing ongoing high prices at the pump right in the middle of spring break season, with the summer travel months right around the corner. And, when oil is expensive in the summer, that hits vacation plans and generates attention.
Because that’s when everyone’s out on their road trips, driving to the beach, or the lake, or wherever they want to go.
When gas is expensive, those plans get rolled back, and people get annoyed.
But oil isn’t alone in this. Commodity prices are going through the roof in a range of different segments – including agricultural products like hogs, orange juice, and eggs – and those price hikes are hitting all of us daily at the grocery store.
Now we’re seeing it at the pump, too.
This is a change from what we’ve been seeing over the last year, when grocery prices were rising but oil prices were holding steady. Now both are rising. Americans are feeling it at the pump, and they’re feeling it at the grocery store.
It’s not a great environment for the retail consumer who is just trying to get by. They’re getting stretched everywhere they turn.
#EyeonVolatility
