This week featured another batch of government reports underlining the high inflation Americans are suffering through. The Consumer Price Index for July hit another multidecade record with a year-over-year increase of 9.1%, and the Producer Price Index was even uglier. Hopefully next month the recent pullback in gas prices will bring those numbers down.
One obvious way to limit inflation’s effect is to delay the purchase of big-ticket items whose prices are inflated (at least in part) by component shortages: cars and trucks.
Meanwhile, here are some things you can do to limit inflation’s effect on your day-to-day expenses:
A Social Security silver lining — if you can tighten your belt
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One of the frightening aspects of inflation is “falling behind,” as income increases at a slower pace. For retirees, there may be a double-digit cost-of-living increase in Social Security payments in 2023, as Alessandra Malito reports.
More about Social Security — read this if you care about protecting your spouse
Discussions about when to begin receiving Social Security benefits can get complicated, but Jim Blankenship boils them down to a simple decision.
A housing cool-down signal?
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A survey of home builders shows an increase in contract cancellations and price discounting to save deals.
More housing-market coverage from Aarthi Swaminathan:
How to look for quality when stocks are on sale
Michael Brush interviews money managers who point to companies that are getting stronger, even as their stock prices decline.
Read on: How to trade this buy signal in Apple stock
Beaten-down stocks for value and dividends
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Meta Platforms
META,
is now a value stock, after more than halving this year (down 53%) through July 14. John Buckingham, editor of the Prudent Speculator, thinks the Facebook parent is now a buy, along with these six other value stocks, because this year’s bear market “is precisely what you want to see if you are putting money to work.”
More stock choices after prices have dropped: These high-yield stocks are down as much as 58% this year. But their inflation-fighting dividends have room to grow.
And another opinion about Meta: Here’s why Britain’s Warren Buffett is sticking with Facebook’s parent and other beaten down techs
What about Amazon — is it time to scoop up shares?
Rapid expansion of warehouse and delivery infrastructure is among the factors weighing on Amazon’s share this year.
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Shares of Amazon.com have plummeted 34% this year and now trade at their lowest valuation to estimated sales in six years. Check out this deep look into Amazon’s growth history and prospects for the next few years.
Cryptoworld crumbles
In the wake of the Celsius bankruptcy filing, Frances Yue interviews investors who are worried that they may lose what they have parked in frozen accounts at Voyager, a crypto broker.
More in the Distributed Ledger column: As crypto prices crash, some blockchain projects may be struggling to survive
Related: OpenSea NFT marketplace to cut workforce by 20%, CEO says
Tesla reports results next week
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Claudia Assis previews what may be a rough set of numbers when Tesla announces its second-quarter results, as expected after the close on July 20.
More: Tesla’s top AI exec Andrej Karpathy, who helped develop Autopilot, is leaving
A new virus worry
Jaimy Lee looks a at a new coronavirus variant that may be the most easily transmitted.
This meme stock looks like a risky bet
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AMC Entertainment Holdings was a darling among traders who jumped on the stock as a short-squeeze candidate during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, along with others, such as GameStop. AMC might seem to have fallen to earth, with its stock down 45% this year, but it share price is more than double what it was at the end of 2019. James Rogers looks at risks facing the theater operator now.
