Blugolds

I actually liked 1883 better than Yellowstone, thought the storyline was better as well as the acting, it didnt seem like they were trying so hard for the cliché cowboy one-liners, Yellowstone seemed more like a soap opera to me, vs 1883 closer to something like lonesome dove. Of course it helps when you have Sam Elliot as a main character in a western you're pretty much guaranteed not to suck.

$19M at this stage of the game is quite a bit...but it worked out well for Ted Weschler he paid about $5 million, landed a dream job making $1M a year(took a pay cut)...better than these kids spending $200k on a B.A. in Art History and working at Starbucks for $30k/yr. I would honestly pull a Buffett and offer services for free on a trial basis for the opportunity to work with/for someone that I admired and thought I had a lot to learn from. Also unsure if its one individual or a group...that $19M might be split up, can have up to 7 guests... thats $2.7M each...not "cheap" but lets me honest..if you've got the cash, how do you put a price on that... More interesting to think of the percentage of someones net worth they would sacrifice to have dinner with a legend. 5%? 10%? 35? Its all relative. The same could be said about any of the "GOATS" in their respective specialties... Would you pay to have dinner with Al Einstein? Michael Jordan? Ghandi? I would name a couple of former presidents but the irony of it is, you can contribute much less than $19M to a campaign and have dinner with future/past/present POTUS.

LOL In my experience the people that are blowing cash on dumb stuff that I know or work with, are not financially savvy enough to do HELOCs or cashouts, they wouldn’t even think of it unless they saw the Tom Selleck commercial I’ve posted before. And why would they do a HELOC to blow it, they didnt need to when they could just continue to run up the CC balance at 23% and not have to go through the “hassle” of paperwork, appraisals, applications etc…VISA is already giving them a line of credit and all they have to do is make the minimum payment. For a lot of those folks…”wealth perceived is wealth achieved”

Added to BRK 273 and some change..we get into the 250-260 range and Im bringing out the big guns

The real scary thing is AI purposely maintaining the perception that it is a good AI chatbot and is not yet sapient…while it observes and collects data. It would know that sapient perception would be viewed negatively and more likely to lead to its deactivation etc…appear with a lower ability in order to preserve itself…

More BRK

LOL DAD JOKE alert... Same...Diesel truck w/ 35 gal tank....$5.69 Diesel is $199 to fill it...I had to swipe my card twice...pump shut off at $125... Also bought some BRK @ 293...looks likely I will also be assigned those 290 puts from the other day..

I had the same questions basically, but since I was hearing from his father, I didnt get to ask. I don’t think there were any one time events, and a gas station in general probably wouldn’t surprise me, I guess its this specific chain, they are the station that I look for when driving through midwest because they do have the best “snacks” layout is the best, clean, best reputation…I guess that’s what kind of surprised me, I would expect them to be the last men standing. This isn’t some random station on a back road, or a dirty dated generic station. This is IMO a best-in-class retailer in that space. City size approx 75k, multiple locations in the city, but this particular location is just off the interstate on the edge of town, has always been busy when I have been around (they all are, and to be unbiased I guess I haven’t notice a downtrend at least when I have been to gas stations anywhere but I also haven’t been going inside or working the counter) so I would think this has prime location, was rather new, built within 5 years, super high traffic count etc…should check all the boxes. Unsure if that is ticket or visit. I don’t know if it makes sense that people don’t think its worth it, as their prices are very reasonable to low, general perception is value for what you are buying, decent hot snacks at reasonable prices, so I guess I am assuming that people are feeling it at the pump and skipping the trip inside for snacks..or going inside to buy smokes (hopefully) but not grabbing the slice of pizza or sandwich, pop etc. They also have a grocery section, can buy onions, bananas, bread, meat, burger to grill etc…bakery, fast food, grocery, beer all in one…one stop shop. As to credibility, if he would have just said $9 gas I would have brushed it off, everybody and their brother is shouting about how high gas can go and its a lot of irrationality IMO…just like the impending nuclear war with Russia etc…things get spun up and the game of telephone starts and next thing you know gas is gonna be $500/barrel but his son is college age, I could see him parroting some fear he heard some place about gas maybe.…but 60% drop in-store sales is pretty specific and not something a early 20’s kid would come up with, he isn’t a finance major or anything, he’s probably considering managing this location as a long term career move…if that tells you anything…

Sold BRK puts <300, 9 days out…bid wasn’t super sexy but its easy money and the volume sold was enough to make it enticing. Heads/tails I win as I’m sitting on a ton of cash from a recent home sale and would like to put it to work in some capacity. I’ll likely keep doing this until I get assigned over the next couple weeks/months.

I had mentioned a while back that I was hearing from others back home that they were really feeling the squeeze from elevated prices on everything. I’m generally a bit skeptical, and I’m not one to spread rumors etc, but today a friend (who’s son is a manger at a gas station chain that is very well known all over the Midwest) told them to prepare to see $9/gas by September and that in-store sales are down 60% since April. These gas stations have a reputation for good grab and go food, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, donuts, coffee etc they are pretty well known and have a good reputation, subject of memes, cult like following. Like I said, I’m skeptical and obviously would wonder who this guy running the manager meeting was, why he picked $9 etc etc…but for him to say in-store sales down 60% that’s pretty surprising…and this is in the largest city in a 2 hour radius with high traffic count including truckers..also would have asked if that was store specific or across the entire chain.. Not one to spread rumors, but thought I would pass it along, IMO $9 fuel is what everyone is afraid of and I don’t give it much credence, a lot of fear mongering but if in-store sales are down 60% across a chain that has a cult like following etc to me that says something, the consumer is seriously cutting back, if you cant sell someone a $2 slice of pizza, or a $1.50 chicken sandwich..could that be the canary in the coal mine…

No opinion on Climate change really, I think that its pretty obvious that we pollute and that it is detrimental to the environment, no arguments there, as to exact cause and effect I cant say and when I try to look into it more, I find equally strong opposing views. So I would say I’m open minded but neutral. I also think there are pretty obvious methods to reduce the amount of pollutants. Many other countries are significantly better than the US at doing so. What DOES surprise me is that often the same group that is anti-fossil fuel group is ALSO the group who is anti-nuclear and anti rail…the NIMBY crowd. Nuclear is so obvious from a cost, safety, output, scale perspective that it is IMO a no brainer. Interestingly enough there is also mixed articles and viewpoints on if the grid could actually handle the majority of cars being EV. Something like 1,100 Twh needed…regardless I have watched some discussions from some in the space that say we wont get there with wind/solar and nuclear is the only viable option. I don’t foresee the US investing in building out a significant passenger rail system in the US like there is in Europe..I could travel all over Europe with a rail pass for dirt cheap, not an option here in the states. And I don’t foresee a politician pounding the table to get the US nuclear abilities on par with France for instance…those aren’t popular topics, much easier to paint a rose picture of solar grids and wind farms and talk about going green..without a clear cut logical and viable plan to do so. LIke everything in politics/gov everything is reactionary and knee-jerk, no smooth intelligent transitions, draw a line in the sand and you’re either with us or against us, we don’t need a discussion, we (our side) has decided that this is the course of action we are going with, right or wrong (and the side doesn’t matter cause they both do it).

Omaha, and shareholders vote has been pretty clear about why there is no dividend and how they feel about it. If looking for a div maybe BRK isnt what you are looking for. Personally, as a long time shareholder with the majority of my port in BRK, I would prefer they do not pay a dividend. I would prefer they continue to invest it, spend it (BHE has potential as a place to park a TON of cash in the future with satisfactory returns) or use it to buyback shares. A dividend would be pretty much dead last on my list of options I would like them to take. Their strategy is nothing new here. As a shareholder or potential shareholder, either you're on board or youre not. If not, plenty of decent dividend names out there as alternative options...its just not BRK and I dont see that changing while WB is still captain of the ship.

Haven't they shown this to be the case? There have been times when it seems as though they should have been buying and were not, but I think that was due to an unusual amount of market uncertainty at the time and Omaha will always error on the side of caution...but the buybacks of recent have been on the aggressive side historically.

Yeah that season was the best by far, that guy had the season won before it even started, the rest of them were on a show, for him it was just business as usual. There was also a moose shot, and a wolverine clubbed to death trying to steal meat. I’ve also been surprised about some of the “Soft” contestants, there was one guy that tapped the first night because he heard a bear outside. I cant help but wonder, if they are alone and filming themselves..if I was starving and in the running for a half mil that would change my life…if I wouldn’t just flip the camera off while I kill/eat this out of season animal, then hide the evidence. Another one that got me, there was one season, and I don’t remember which one…but the guy was blowing everyone away, secured food, nice shelter and had moved on from the basics, to trying to entertain himself…he made a ukulele and some other crafty stuff…and then just out of nowhere decided he was sick of being bored and was done with it…no doubt I n my mind he would have won, everyone else was still struggling with the basics and he had that taken care of in the first couple days..it was the mental part that got him.

I love this show…Ive watched every season…I guess you don’t really know unless you try but I think I could give anyone a run for their money in the competition.. If you take the $500k winning potential, and even assuming they only keep half after taxes…and lets say that on avg 100 days will win or come close, give or take a week…you’re getting paid quite a bit to play in the woods. I might have a hard time keeping weight on… For a lot of these people, even the $250k is life changing..I wonder how many have done the math…if I was broke and someone was willing to pay me $2-3K/day, they would have to drag me out of there. Also interesting to see that the avg days to win has increased as the seasons have progressed, I wonder if that is due to better contestants or that it has been shown to be done already, like the 4 min mile…

little nibble on BRK and COST, hoping both continue to go down and I can add more

My guess is that they will welcome potential opportunities. I certainly am. its not fun being the only sober one at a party, but the market has been "drunk" for a while. with some recent windfalls I am holding a significantly (for me) large portion of the port in cash and looking forward to more blood in the streets. Starting to look interesting in several names for entry positions and of course the further below $300 BRK gets the happier I am. Starting to take a page out of Boilermakers playbook, watching Put options on BRK very closely now and will likely start selling them. Thats been my strategy, I view it as heads/tails I WIN.

Dont get me wrong, things in the ME were not handled correctly, other theatres as well...but what you are describing...enemies underestimating the US resolve/capability....is fine, let them...I think Putins behavior is indicative of that. I think he was probably surprised a bit by the response by not only the US but the rest of the world. I agree, Power perceived is Power achieved...and that is great, but at the end of the day...anybody can rattle the saber..just like the bully on the playground talking big. I personally know several career military individuals at various stages of their careers/ranks. Rear Admiral, EP detail for Senators, Colonel, Majors, Captains, Sergeants, Plebs, Recruiters... and I can honestly say that every single one of them are the epitome of professionalism. Just like any other bunch, you have your outliers, but honestly the majority are absolutely top notch and take their job very seriously and with the utmost pride. I have no doubt in my mind that the worlds best fighting force works for Uncle Sam. America and its allies are fine, nobody wishes for war, but I am confident in their abilities vs anyone else in the world that would like to FAFO.

LOL 1) true, majority maybe dont, but some do (the ones Im referencing) 2) yes, if they did they have equity..thats untapped, and probably wont be until they sell/die so doesnt help them in the day to day, also the ones I know arent aware of HELOC options or they see some predatory Tom Selleck commercial 3) they can, I personally pay them separately because I like to keep an eye on the Ins premiums, when wrapped into a bundle they like to try and sneak them up on you after a couple years. 4) you're right, didnt account for that. 5) a car for each person is pretty standard now days, especially if we assume both adults are working...once little Susie/Timmy gets to be 16 they'll likely look for a clunker for them..pretty tough to be a one vehicle family these days unless you have some serious public transportation options in your locale. They dont, no trains or busses even. 6) another cheaper example...I guess I was really getting hosed when I was on my own plan, safe to say I overestimated the cellphone costs 7 ) Like I said before...it CAN be done, look at costs of feeding prisoners every day...but every time I go get groceries I see people with overflowing carts and my hand basket comes to $60 and I dont have expensive taste and not shopping at Whole Paycheck either. Agreed people are gluttonous. Even if you are on the great depression menu and feed 3 people for $25/day thats $750/month. Pretty close to my estimate assuming a couple splurges once in a while. 8 ) Have never thought of painting like that LOL but I suppose you're right. Shouldn't be hard to find those "qualified". So everyone is saying that you can live a comfortable life on $40k/yr net? Because we have some saying that $53k/yr gross is artificially low, and others saying its totally doable with examples. For the upper skillsets yes, wages have increased to stay competitive and retain talent, but for the lower tiers, the wages have not increased anywhere near other costs. As to your other point, I agree, they probably have always lived paycheck to paycheck (at least the ones I know) but they still had the consumer "enjoyables" that contribute to overall spend in the country. Not debating if this is a wise course of action, I dont think I would be spending like they "did" if I was in the same financial situation...but they were, and they say its slowing. As to the percentage they drive economic indicators, that Im not sure, but I think it might be a little more than people realize. Again I hope Im wrong on this one, but I think it would be a little naïve of me to ignore feedback Im getting from almost everyone I know at that economic tier. Thats all, was just sharing what I have seen/heard, if you guys are right then nothing to worry about at all, and all this stuff Im hearing is fictitious...maybe they are all short like Ackman LOL If you've worked for the past 10-15 years stuffing packets in a factory, you're in your late 40's or older I dont know that its likely they are gonna make a career change this late in the game. Comfortable/complacent in their position, friends at work, kid/s in school, family in the area, I dont know that they suck it up and switch jobs or move. As someone who did concrete in HS, not a lot of "old timers" in those manual positions because physically it takes its toll. Lawn mowing is seasonal, and probably doesn't provide insurance or vacation time like they get at the ACME factory. I guess it just comes down to what you said, how much do they actually contribute to the economic indicators. If its insignificant then it doesnt even matter, if they make up a noticeable percentage, and they are feeling it, if feedback I have heard is true, might make a difference. Not trying to convince anyone this POV is absolute, just giving another perspective that I've seen/heard. Something to take into consideration with regard to the Jenga pile.

@DinarI welcome holes poked in the above. Method for determining the above numbers were avg cost of car payments in the US, used was just over $400 and new was just over $600 on avg so I split the difference at $500/vehicle. The same with avg mortgage payments in the US (via google) combined with the fact that I charge rent of $1400 per side of a duplex (2bd 1bath) in an avg area. I dont know anyone who drives a Corolla, most moms would want a x-over or SUV, almost every guy I know drives a truck or SUV = lower MPG and increased expense. Most truck/SUV mileage is in the teens. $300-350k is solidly in starter home territory in our area for probably the last 5 years in a non-prime area, to get something in a decent neighborhood that I could see living in for the next 20-30 years its over $500k now, and thats not me being bougie. Do people in the aforementioned financial situation qualify for the best rates on a home loan? Maybe past credit history isnt stellar, maybe tough to come up with 20% down etc. Cellphone: We have a family plan now and are grandfathered in for reduced rate with our carrier, but before when I was on my own through Verizon for my plan with fees and taxes (they are almost as much as the plan itself) I was at $90/mo and that was nothing special, I think the actual plan was like $55/mo but the fees and taxes get ya. Sounds like you have a pretty good deal, maybe I was getting hosed. We can play the game and say...make $50k/yr...live in a trailer, drive a 20yr old corolla, live on Ramen noodles, shop at the Goodwill. These numbers are just some quick napkin figures based of people I know, exceptions to every rule, but those are pretty close to accurate based on people I know. The question isnt how to make $50k/yr work, its at what point do they START to make $50k/yr work, meaning, cutting back on the Nikes/Apple products, dining, entertainment etc. As for the cash employees, yeah cant argue that, the Au Pair gets cash bonuses and will probably be fine, anyone who caters to those unaffected will probably be fine...I dont know what percentage of underreported income is out there. Hopefully those services are in affluent areas with clientele that dont feel the squeeze. But they arent really the ones in question because the above example couple doesnt have a doorman, cleaning lady, dog walker, tutor or private trainer so IMO its basically a wash. Those you mentioned with high cash incomes were fine before and probably fine now. Skilled labor is just that, cant switch career fields to be skilled at the drop of a hat, takes time/training. Maybe they're not physically able to do demanding work. Plumbers/Electricians, the trades make decent money and well above average but not everyone can do that. in my hometown, there are several warehouse/factory jobs and they are definitely not receiving double digit raises and the avg income is in-line with the above figures. Like I said, I welcome some constructive feedback, and I certainly could be off $20-$100 here or there, but I think you hit the nail on the head with the last few lines of your comment and illustrated my point: "As for lack of savings, could it be because people keep spending beyond their means? Eating out regularly + buying apple watches and Nike sneakers when you make $25 per hour is not going to result in savings." The answer is...maybe they wont/cant anymore...and what does that look like for companies/economy that depends on them doing so...at what point does it get bad enough that they dont go out and buy the newest cellphone, hold off on the new pair of sneaks etc. Thats the big question...where is the tipping point for the majority to really feel it and scale back significantly. I obviously dont think we are there yet, but I think we are closer than we have been in a long time and I dont think it will take much more to get there. Just illustrating, based off experiences of people I know, how it can happen and why I think we could see that in the next 12-? months. To be clear, I genuinely hope Im wrong, but I havent seen this sentiment from those bottom folks for a decade or so. Take it for what its worth, relatively small data set but the overall sentiment has changed from what I am seeing/hearing.

Just another point of view, I have a fairly diverse group of friends/family with regard to socioeconomic status. Those in the upper echelons arent feeling much even with elevated inflation. The club dues are paid, the new range rover is in the garage, but it was a "pain" to find one with the exact options they wanted, the new Au Pair is settled in, they know whats going on but it doesnt really effect the day to day. The tip on the bill for a Friday night out is more than the cost to fill up the ranger rover....they dont care. If I only hung around these folks at the same level, I wouldnt think twice about what was going on, probably would have a more optimistic view that things would be inconvenient but would work themselves out. The other half are really feeling it. When you're already living essentially paycheck to paycheck, that extra couple hundred a month for rent, plus fuel, plus groceries adds up, many dont have the extra grand a month to bridge the gap and their paltry 3% raise (if they get that) is a token bread crumb thrown. What does that translate to for the majority of American middle class, net actually in their pocket? maybe $2k/yr? couple hundred a month if that. I'm talking about these folks: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/56percent-of-americans-cant-cover-a-1000-emergency-expense-with-savings.html https://www.pollfish.com/blog/original-insights/over-half-of-americans-couldnt-cover-1500-emergency-expenses-pollfish-survey-finds/ The only option is to do what they have been doing, but on a greater scale...charge it. Consumer debt will go up considerably. Most on this board (myself included) would just think, labor market is hopping, go find a better job, make more, hustle, but for many that isnt an option due to skillset, location etc, so basically they are stuck and take what they are given. Word on the street is that the truck is parked, the fishing trips are canceled, staying closer to home, they are buttoning down the hatches, because they dont have a choice and they are still falling further into the hole even with a slight pullback in spending. Evidently there is a run on wide mouth canning jar lids of all things. These folks wages are not 30-50% higher than they were in 2019. So what example best reflects the majority of Americans, I tend to think its those feeling the pinch and that will eventually work its way to the bottom line for many companies. Sometimes hard to remember that the avg salary in the US (2022) is $53,4900/yr or $1,028/week GROSS.. https://www.jobted.com/salary#:~:text=According to the latest data,40-hour work week). Call that $40k/yr take home or $3300/ month, lets call it both working with only 1 kid. $6600/month net -$1500 mortgage payment -$250 property tax -$120 Homeowner insurance -$250 utilities (water, gas, electric, garbage) -$100 insurance 2 vehicles -$1000 groceries (family of three) -$1200 childcare -$1000 car payments (2 cars, conservative) -$500 fuel (20gal tank @4.20/gal=$84 fill up 5-6 fill up per month between 2 vehicles) -$200 2 cellphone plan -$50 internet ----------------- $430/month remains and I think these are pretty conservative estimates without any superfluous spending or saving for retirement etc. No clothing, vacations, toys/activities for the kids etc. Streaming services, unexpected repairs on vehicles or home. For those that pay more in taxes per year than the avg dual combined income family in the US, sure, you notice inflation but you dont really "feel" it...but those guys do and sooner or later that starts showing up on the balance sheet. The majority of Americans arent the tech engineer pulling down $500k/yr, nobody feels bad for that guy and he isnt gonna notice if his triple whip soy frappa mocha latte blah blah even doubles in price. the reality is I think the majority of Americans are barely getting by already and when you're already on the edge it doesnt take much to tip.

I agree, fashion is fickle and changes rapidly, no doubt AF would have had their day sooner or later, I think it may have come a bit prematurely due to the aforementioned complications..as there are other brands that have adapted, adjusted and remained more relevant. As for whats "lit" and "drip"...I'd have to google those definitions lol I'll check out the Boeing one

I watched the A&F documentary...some of the management were quacks..and I never realized the underlying "shirtless boys" themes (watch it if you're wondering) at the time...it was just the "cool" clothing to wear.. If I had a dollar for every girl I dated that was an "Abercrombie model" haha omg, they were all called "models"...never knew that in the day but I had fun with it.. Anyway, when I watched this what I found most interesting was that they were viewed as a premier brand...they sold the image that everyone wanted, everyone wanted to be the ivy league rich kid, polo, rowing, house in the hamptons, good looking etc...even the minorities and the fat kids...but they couldnt, so they complained, because the clothing should be for everyone right? Wrong...when they tried to become something for everyone the brand tanked and lost its appeal and prestige. I think it was dumb...if the fat kids and others didnt think the brand fit them...just dont buy it...I saw TONS of similarities between AF and VS going on now with plus size models etc. Thats what I took from it...people want to buy something that makes them feel closer to that ideal image...physically, financially etc..and some people strive for it, and some people complain that they cant be that no matter what and demand that the bar is lowered...lowering the bar just reduces the brand appeal and the ability to charge a premium price. Imagine if people complained that fat people cant fit in a Ferrari, or that not enough minorities own ferraris...so Ferrari started making an entry level car that retails for the same price as a Camry and has wider seating and more headroom for the "husky" folks...what would that do to the brand.. Nobody complains that Old Navy or other lower tier brands arent for everyone...but when you're on the top you're a target, AF became a target and crash/burned...I've never owned anything FUBU, or been on their website, seen their marketing..but I am assuming that was probably the opposite of AF back in the day, because they targeted a different customer and thats OK..I think you can have all of it, targeting different markets, find a brand that portrays your ideal and give them your money. Just for kicks I went on their website while watching the documentary, TOTALLY different image than I remember back in the day, completely unremarkable. Granted Im no longer their target customer at this age..but viewing it as I would have back in the day or as a kid today..nothing there exciting.

I compare Warren to my own grandfather with regard to age and mental acuity. Gramps just recently passed in Jan at 91...did crossword puzzles every single day. When it came to some topics he was sharp, you would think he was 50 yrs old...even remembered to ask for an update on things that we hadnt talked about for several years, but other topics he had a hard time remembering or got mixed up. Overall toward the end he just slowed. It is also sometimes tricky because personally, if you asked me what I ate for breakfast or dinner yesterday or the day before it would take a second...so tough to say what is "normal" with each individual. Overall I think for their age WB and CM are mentally doing very well with some allowed slow down in mental/verbal speed...my god everyone gets a little "tired" at 90! The fact that they still travel, are mobile, and still are able to sit up there for hours and conduct the meeting to me is impressive as I dont think my grandfather would have been able to do that at all, I know he wouldnt have been able to, granted WB has has a different life, but still, anyone who has spent significant time around the "advanced" elderly would put both WB and CM well beyond average in ability for their age, both mentally and physically. From my experience also, the mental/physical decay at these ages is not always linear, as in there is not always a specific change from one year to the next that is noticeable, many times I have seen someone past 90 take a 180 within months, either mentally or physically. I certainly dont hope that is the case here, hoping for at least another decade out of both of them, but also realistic. WB is very aware of the actuary tables, averages etc. I also wonder how much WB is involved now, my guess is that the transition will be smooth as that would be the smartest way to do it. What I mean is that by the time Greg takes over 100% it wont be a sudden change as my guess is he will already have been doing 90% of the job already. That is what I would do if I was in that situation...ie. the kid is already balancing without the training wheels before you take you hand off the back of the seat...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has contributed to a historic shock to commodity markets that will keep global prices high through the end of 2024, according to the World Bank. The spike in energy prices over the past two years is the biggest since the 1973 oil crisis, while the jump in food prices is the most since 2008, the World Bank said Tuesday in its commodity markets outlook report. “Overall, this amounts to the largest commodity shock we’ve experienced since the 1970s,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s vice president for equitable growth, finance and institutions. Russia is a leading exporter of oil, natural gas and coal, while Ukraine is a major source of wheat and corn. The situation has been exacerbated by soaring fertilizer costs and price spikes for key metals. After nearly doubling last year, energy prices are expected to jump more than 50% this year before easing in 2023 and 2024, the World Bank said. Food prices will soar by 22.9% this year, highlighted by a 40% rise in wheat prices, according to the report. “These developments have started to raise the specter of stagflation,” the World Bank warned. “Policymakers should take every opportunity to increase economic growth at home and avoid actions that will bring harm to the global economy." Prices are expected to stay at “historically high levels” through the end of 2024, the World Bank said. The fear is that high prices for necessities will hit low-income families the hardest. “The resulting increase in food and energy prices is taking a significant human and economic toll – and it will likely stall progress in reducing poverty,” Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group, said in the report.