Oil Prices Decline but Consumers Aren’t Out of the Woods Yet
Just because the oil prices are on the decline and the dollar is on the rise, don’t be lulled into thinking the U.S. consumer is out of the woods just yet.
Even though relief is being felt at the pumps, prices of most consumer products that were raised when the oil price surged have not yet come down. The New York Times reports:
“Procter & Gamble, for example, has raised by 7 percent to 10 percent the prices it charges retailers for items made with ingredients derived from oil. The company is planning to maintain the increase ‘to recover costs already incurred,’ Paul Fox, a spokesman, said.”
And most companies are following suit, and waiting it out to see if oil prices are going to stay low, or if recent pricing is a fluke.
As winter looms in the not-so distant future, worries of high home heating bills are mounting. Although oil and natural gas prices have fallen from their previous highs, they are still well above last year’s level.
The Energy Information Administration estimates that heating oil prices are expected to reach $4.34 a gallon across the nation this year.
Get ready for a long winter...
Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning Australia
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About the Author
Best-selling investment author Bill Bonner is the founder and president of Agora Publishing, one of the world's most successful consumer newsletter companies. Owner of both Fleet Street Publications and MoneyWeek magazine in the UK, he is also author of the free daily e-mail The Daily Reckoning.