The Victoria's Secret chain has a secret, all right, and it's a dirty one. Its undies that are purported to be made with "fair trade" organic cotton actually utilize some unseemly labor practices in the early stages of the supply chain.
Friday's employment report has created an even hazier backdrop for stocks. Recent data showed an economy starting to cool, but with 244,000 jobs created in April, this expansion may have legs after all. But the economy's areas of support aren't what you'd have expected a few months ago.
Over the past year, the prices of many commodities have risen at record paces to record highs. But recently, those prices have begun to plunge, and consumers should begin to see the effects of those declines fairly soon, in the form of less-expensive groceries and clothing.
Among the questions investors now face: How much rally is left in cotton since skyrocketing 171% already in a year? Among the variables to consider are weather, demand and how much more land gets devoted to cotton. Analysts point to better and worse ways to play this commodity.
It's no surprise that consumer prices are rising -- the prices of commodities from corn to cotton to copper are near record levels, thanks to shrinking supplies and rising demand worldwide. The question is whether the Fed will raise rates to combat this price inflation -- and whether it should.
The dollar is looking mighty attractive, thanks to a reviving U.S. economy and eurozone woes, and it will only get stronger as traders who gambled that it would fall buy dollars to unwind their bad bets. Add in China's desperate need to get its overheated economy in check, and commodities prices look like they have nowhere to go but down.
Expect your T-shirts to get a little bit thinner next year -- and maybe a little more expensive. Apparel retailers are looking high and low for ways to keep from passing on too much of their own rising costs to consumers. The trick: Doing so without hurting quality.
China's bull run may be over as investors pulled money out of the market, forcing the Shanghai Composite down 1.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 2%. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index was nearly flat.
Some of the best reads for investors from around the Web, including posts evaluating how consumers spend their money, whether Google could be considered a monopoly and the debate about the Fed's policy on quantitative easing.
Intended or not, the Fed's quantitative easing policies are destroying the dollar's value. That's pushing prices of commodities that Americans need -- such as food, cotton and oil -- ever higher. And it hurts companies as well as consumers.
In Asia Wednesday Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.9% to 23,165 and China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.5% to 2,997. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index inched up 0.1% to 9,387.
Besides the unemployed, nobody is getting hurt worse in this economy than seniors. Prices on many commodities are skyrocketing, but the Consumer Price Index, which is the yardstick used to adjust Social Security for inflation, is virtually unchanged.
Cotton prices are nearing 15-year highs. Last week the price per bale for December delivery hit $85 -- up from $75 last month. High prices are good news for farmers, but it may mean consumers will pay more for T-shirts and jeans.
A severe food shortage is on its way, according to famed investor Jim Rogers. Food inventories are the lowest in decades and "[m]any farmers cannot get loans to buy fertilizer now, even though we have big shortages developing," he said.
