cost
Maple Syrup Heist Hikes Price of a Pancake Breakfast
If you're relaxing at home enjoying a pancake breakfast this New Year's morning, savor it while you can. The brazen theft, over the course of a year, of millions of gallons of maple syrup from Canada's strategic syrup reserve (yes, there apparently is such a thing), could spell higher prices for the "liquid gold" in 2013.
Would You Buy Birth Control Pills on Craigslist?
For sexually active women and men who use contraception, the cost of birth control ranges from $10 to $100 or more a month. That's not terribly high, but in tough economic times, the impact of that expense is magnified. Here are options and prices for avoiding an unplanned pregnancy.
Kroger, Safeway, and Rivals Face Margin Headwinds
Supermarket chains like Kroger and Safeway have posted a string of strong quarterly earnings. But with the costs of gas and agricultural products spiking, that could all change.
Is Inflation Really 1.6%, or Is the BLS Getting Scammed?
Government measures show that inflation, at 1.6% in January, is still below the Fed's target of 2%. But commodity prices are soaring, and anyone who pays their household bills knows that food and energy prices are rising because of it. Is the Consumer Price Index getting it wrong?
Face-Off on Stocks: Costco, BJ's, Wal-Mart
Retail stocks tend to rise ahead of other sectors in the early stages of an economic recovery, and so far, following a familiar pattern, both up-market and discount chains have benefited at the expense of middle-market players. So is it time to buy stock in wholesale clubs?
Retail Sales Get Holiday Boost
The nation's retailers are reporting signs of life in December sales figures that show modest holiday gains. Several are raising profit outlooks because they didn't have to resort to drastic price-cutting because of lean inventories.