The Steakhouse Index Options

[impala454]

you're still not understanding, and just grasping for any number you can find that sounds ok to you. let me explain one more time and make it simpler:

let's say I drive a big semi truck on a 500 mile route to a wal mart to drop off goods for them to sell. it costs me $x amount of gas to make the trip. the worth of those goods in the truck (what wal mart eventually sells them for i.e. revenue) is $y. in every case, $x will be insignificant compared to $y. profit makes no sense to compare to in this case, because it's including every cost of the company, not just gas.

and just because I don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening? how am I supposed to get all up in arms over this issue if I'm still paying $0.50 for the same can of corn I paid $0.50 for ten years ago? Why would I get all gung ho about gas prices when, according to inflation, they're in the same place they've been the past couple years. I have a hard time taking the doomsday view of it when I don't even see the effects.

which leads to my final point. when you see the prices of consumer goods (and services) all rise simultaneously by small amounts over the period of a couple years, what is the more likely explanation:
1. inflation
2. an extremely nested web of goods depending on other goods depending on other goods all leading back to oil and omg /cry /cry it must be bush and global warming and war

yeah oil is important. yeah it sucks when it gets expensive during the summer, but we go through this every year. prices go way up at the beginning of the summer, people go insane and think it's the end of life as we know it, then when it goes back down in the fall people shuttup about it. so I suppose this thread is just business as usual.

[The Fanatic]

let's say I drive a big semi truck on a 500 mile route to a wal mart to drop off goods for them to sell. it costs me $x amount of gas to make the trip. the worth of those goods in the truck (what wal mart eventually sells them for i.e. revenue) is $y. in every case, $x will be insignificant compared to $y. profit makes no sense to compare to in this case, because it's including every cost of the company, not just gas.

Irregardless, it is still a good excuse to raise prices. In other news, the locally owned hamburger joint that I work at just raised their prices because suppliers raised their prices.

[The Fanatic]

http://p239.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070613/ts_csm/amilk

[dauss]

Why would I get all gung ho about gas prices

No clue, but maybe it's because you're not reading the article. The article posted was talking about the ethanol demand, increased consumption of corn for the production of ethanol, reduction in supply for animal feeds, increased costs in animal feed, reduction in the farm land for other crops, and increased food prices from the above factors.

Why you would rant on about how much it costs a truck to deliver food and post prices of gasoline doesn't make any sense to me.

For these steak houses, $2 increase on top of what they're probably charging for a steak, >$35, it doesn't seem that much. These are prime steaks, and prime cuts of meat have more fat, which means the cows were fattened up longer and ate more. So it's a slightly higher percentage increase, but what else do you expect for a premium product?

$0.09 increase for a $2 box of cereal, 4.5%.
$2 increase for a $35 steak, 5.7%.

[impala454]

Why you would rant on about how much it costs a truck to deliver food and post prices of gasoline doesn't make any sense to me.

because you were talking about how gas prices would drive up delivery costs which would drive up food costs, which makes no sense because the delivery prices are minscule in comparison to the cost of the food being delivered.

For these steak houses, $2 increase on top of what they're probably charging for a steak, >$35

no, it's $3 increase from a $15 steak. that's a 20% increase. they increase the prices because they can. not because oil and corn prices are up. their stock prices have been skyrocketing as much as oil has.

I know what you're saying, you think food prices will increase because corn prices increase because corn demand increases because of ethanol demand because of gas prices, well that last, immensly important link doesn't exist. gas prices are high because of the lack of refining capacity, not because of a lack of oil, or lack of ethanol. this means the demand for ethanol doesn't change until the refining capacity changes. you think there's an enormous demand for corn and ethanol so it can sit in a bunch of tanks and not get refined and blended with gasoline that doesn't exist??

Irregardless, it is still a good excuse to raise prices.

Perhaps, but I'd say the fact that you can't get into the joints without an hour wait at dinner time would probably have much more impact on them raising prices. I'll tell you what will really raise prices at restaurants will be these minimum wage increases coming.

In other news, the locally owned hamburger joint that I work at just raised their prices because suppliers raised their prices.

how much was the increase?

[pysex]

i think we're going to get screwed in the near future....

people are sitting on their asses and watching the cost of living skyrocket in America

we're going to see people not making enough money to meet that narrow margin and we're going to have a job crisis

inflation is permanent




i blame magic millionaires

the more they have in their pocket the more price hikes are justified and the working class is going to get screwed in the ass

This was a major factor of the French Revolution...taxes were raised, food prices were raised, but no one was earning enough to meet that demand...all of their money was spent on trying to buy food and the economy collapsed because the people couldn't spend money anywhere else

[FORSAKENR320]

i think we're going to get screwed in the near future....

people are sitting on their asses and watching the cost of living skyrocket in America

we're going to see people not making enough money to meet that narrow margin and we're going to have a job crisis

inflation is permanent
i blame magic millionaires

the more they have in their pocket the more price hikes are justified and the working class is going to get screwed in the ass

This was a major factor of the French Revolution...taxes were raised, food prices were raised, but no one was earning enough to meet that demand...all of their money was spent on trying to buy food and the economy collapsed because the people couldn't spend money anywhere else

thats why i'm investing in canned food and shotguns. THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH!

[impala454]

the thought of stockpiling mass amounts of guns and ammo always seemed sensible to me....

[FORSAKENR320]

the thought of stockpiling mass amounts of guns and ammo always seemed sensible to me....

agreed. better to have them and never need them, than to need them and not have them

[dauss]

because you were talking about how gas prices would drive up delivery costs which would drive up food costs, which makes no sense because the delivery prices are minscule in comparison to the cost of the food being delivered.

no, it's $3 increase from a $15 steak. that's a 20% increase. they increase the prices because they can. not because oil and corn prices are up. their stock prices have been skyrocketing as much as oil has.

I was referring to the Palms, mentioned in the article, not what you said.

I know what you're saying, you think food prices will increase because corn prices increase because corn demand increases because of ethanol demand because of gas prices, well that last, immensly important link doesn't exist. gas prices are high because of the lack of refining capacity, not because of a lack of oil, or lack of ethanol. this means the demand for ethanol doesn't change until the refining capacity changes. you think there's an enormous demand for corn and ethanol so it can sit in a bunch of tanks and not get refined and blended with gasoline that doesn't exist??

Besides the demand for corn, more farm land dedicated to corn means less of other crops, like soybeans, wheat, and barley, which is also used in animal feed.

So why the huge push for ethanol? The house passed Energy Policy Act in 05 which requires 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended with gasoline by 2012. In his State of the Union address, president Bush called for increasing that mandate to 35 billion gallons by 2017. Then there are millions of dollars in incentives to build new ethanol plans and even more for subsidized corn.

Lets say with current technology, 35 billion gallons of ethanol would require about 100% of the corn crop. Obviously there will be technological improvements, but it would still take a majority of the corn crop.

how much was the increase?

I've got a couple examples. Wendy's no longer have their $0.99 value menu.
Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, $0.99 -> $1.29, 30% increase.
Everything else, $0.99 - > $1.19, 20% increase.

Arby's(depending on location)
5 for $5 -> 4 for $5, 25% increase
5 for $5 -> 5 for $6, 20% increase

Those also happened long before the new minimum wage increase.