WEBVTT - 11-25-25 America's Truckin' Network 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:13.800 This is America's trunck and Network with Kevin Gordon. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.760 Welcome aboard, Thanks for tuning in on this Thanksgiving Eve. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.640 There is a lot of economic news that it was 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.520 dumped on us over the last couple of days, which 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.080 is kind of as a result of the shut down 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.240 and some of these reports being delayed in the tract 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.919 on which they normally come out has been pushed up 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.239 or pushed back, depending upon what report it is, and 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.400 so we got a lot of these reports now. The 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.880 American Transportation Research Institute a couple months ago, actually actually 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.159 I think last month published a report talking about what 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:53.120 was the most important thing as far as the truck's 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.360 trucking industry is concerned. And of course from the owner 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.480 operator standpoint is different from the truck drive themselves versus 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.840 the trucking executives. But as far as the trucking people 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.559 out there, you out in the public that out there 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.520 on the road on a day to day basis, the 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:13.120 number one thing on your mind is the economy. And 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:15.040 that's one of the reasons why I spend a lot 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:18.880 of time talking about the economy, because again, what we 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.720 are hearing from the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.039 and what we're hearing in terms of these numbers, in 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:30.720 terms of the headlines, even the difference in the headlines 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.880 for the same story when you go from one report 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.000 to another is just incredible. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:37.520 Let me give you an example here. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.640 All right, three separate companies are three separate reporting agencies. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:46.760 Core wholesale prices rose lesson expected in September, which is good, 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:51.320 right now, that's the NBC from Reuters rising energy costs 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:56.240 lift producer prices, lift producer prices in September. That would 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.800 say that, okay, well, gee, whiz prices are going up. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:04.600 According to another I think this is ap producer price 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:09.600 to climb in September as gasoline costs surge, wholesale goods 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:14.119 lead inflation, while service prices hold steady. Now, during those 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.920 three different headlines, you get three different impressions of what's 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.240 going on. Let's start off with c NBC Producer price 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:25.359 index increase they seasonally adjusted point three percent for September, 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:30.519 in line with the Dow Jones consensus estment. However, excluding 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.240 energy and food, the index rows just zero point one 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:39.440 percent below the point two percent estimate. Retail sales increase 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.440 point two percent in September a bit softer than the 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:48.360 point three percent forecast. However, sales excluding autos rowse point 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.280 three percent. Basically to cut through all the crap there 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:53.600 in terms of what they're saying, is that the bottom 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.000 line as far as what inflation is doing. As far 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.840 as the producer price index, now this is different than 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.680 the consumer price index. Producer price index. The amount is 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:07.640 the prices going into these different wholesalers, the manufacturers, etc. 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:13.520 Going into the production of these items, and then on 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:15.800 the other end, when that goes out to the consumer, 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.560 that would be those price increases there. So this is 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:24.120 the increase in prices going to the actual assembly or 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:28.560 the actual wholesale prices that are affecting the wholesale prices, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:31.760 and so when you see those prices go up, that's. 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.079 Kind of an indicator, a leading indicator. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.640 Of what you're going to expect as far as consumer prices. 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.680 On the other end, but every one of these things, 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:44.800 they talk about energy costs, they talk about rising gasoline prices. Now, 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.960 the gasoline prices you would expect again during the summer 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.840 driving season, during the tail end when people are on vacation, 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:54.680 you're going to have a lot of people out on 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.880 the road, And what happens when you have a lot 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.600 of consumers out there, when you have a lot of demand, 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:03.000 you have the normal amount of supply, you're going to 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.520 have rising prices. Now, if you notice going into this 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:11.240 Thanksgiving season, they're talking about gasoline prices being the lowest 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.920 they've been in a very long time. As a matter 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.440 of fact, national average for gasoline prices right now well 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.640 as of today, was three dollars and six cents, which 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.000 is a little bit below of where it was a 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.600 year ago, and a couple of pennies below where it 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.280 was a week ago or so. But when you're looking 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.120 at these prices, and again, if you're looking at gasoline prices, 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:34.400 the same gasoline prices, if they're even within a couple 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:38.200 of pennies of last year, basically indicates no inflation in 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.120 those prices over that period of time. But if you're 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.960 focusing just on the month of the particular month, especially 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.640 during the summer driving season, when you've got a lot 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:49.880 of people out there on the road and a lot 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.440 of consumption, you're going to have rising up prices. And 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.200 when you look back over the years, that generally is 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.880 the latter part of and then in August, when people 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.800 are mostly on vacation, is when you see gas prices 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.400 going up during the summer. And then of course at 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.400 the end of the summer there you start switching away 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.160 and some of these refining refineries shut down a little 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.200 bit or closed down for maintenance because they're converting from 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.440 the summer blends to the winter blends. And so when 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.880 you've got that going into it, that shouldn't be a 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.919 situation where people are hitting the panic button. That is 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.720 the seasonality type of thing, and it's a typical thing 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:32.680 on a regular basis, But in so many instances, the 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.280 spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media just can't help 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:41.400 themselves that they want to portray this economy as terrible 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:45.080 and that prices are rising, that people are panicking because 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:48.040 of inflation. As we talked about yesterday, we were talking 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.480 about this story, and in the story itself, they said 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:59.560 people are frustrated after more than five years of increase inflation. Okay, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.520 where was the panic four years ago? Where was the 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.520 panic three years ago? Where were these stories two years ago? 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:11.800 Where were these stories a year ago? But we want 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.360 to focus on the last eleven months because somebody can't 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:20.320 wave a magic wand and bring prices down considerably. You know, 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.920 we've talked in terms of every time they've talked about tariffs, 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.680 the tariffs are going to rise and raise inflation, that 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.200 they're going to add to inflation, and yet we don't 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:30.160 see it in the numbers. 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:31.880 It's not reflected in the numbers. 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.560 And then when we looked at the individual costs behind 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.359 these things, one of the things too, let me step 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.640 back a minute, and as far as these gasoline prices 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.560 are concerned, let's not forget the heavy hand of government. 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.400 There have been we've reported on here a couple of 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.600 times over the summer that as of July or as 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:53.880 of a certain period of time, the gasoline tax from 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.080 these individual states have gone up. So if you take 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.760 a if you take a three dollars gallon of gasoline 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.880 and you add a state sales tax on that or 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.080 a gasoline tax on that from a state of three cents, 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.720 that's basically a one percent increase in that cost of gasoline. 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.320 But see, nobody ever wants to talk about, you know, 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.040 we always want to talk about how companies and the 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.920 corporations are ripping off the American public. That they're gouging 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.240 us as far as prices and concerned. Why doesn't anybody 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.160 ever concern themselves with the gouging that we get from 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.360 the federal government thirty nine percent top end of the 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:36.520 tax incre of taxes, sales taxes, seven percent, seven percent 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.240 in the state of Kentucky. I think in New York 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.800 or so it's like nine percent. Where is Why don't 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.960 people get concerned about the confiscation of our wealth from 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.440 the federal government or from these governmental agencies. Why don't 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.440 they talk about government greed in terms of wanting our money. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.120 If you talk to some of these people in the government, 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.880 they will talk about, well, you know we let this, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.440 you know we have this, we allow this deduction for people, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.760 and that that really costs the federal I've actually heard 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.440 people talk in terms of the interest rate. You know, 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.600 when you get your taxes and you figure out your 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.280 mortgage and then the interest deduction that you get to 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.160 take on your mortgage, the interest that you get to 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.040 take in deduction from your taxes. 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:21.480 People talk in terms of that. 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.880 Do you realize that that interest rate deduction on your 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.360 income tax cost the federal government X number of dollars? 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.319 What do you mean you mean where the government has 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.840 to send us back that money or where we reduct 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:40.640 we deduct that from our taxes. We pay attention to 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.280 what the laws have been created by Congress, and we 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.640 take advantage of that in terms of reducing our taxes, 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:54.080 and that costs the government. See in that mentality, their 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.360 thought is is that every dime you earn is theirs. 0:08:58.840 --> 0:08:59.480 They own. 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.120 Every dime you earn, what you take home, your take 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.080 home pay. That's not the amount of money that after 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.480 they confiscate your wealth, after they confiscate your taxes, that's 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.240 the money you're left with. No, that is the money 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.920 they let you keep. In their mind, all the money 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.520 you earn is actually theirs. And so when you hear 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:20.840 them talking about, well we need this for that and 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.840 all this sort of stuff. Again, why doesn't anybody ever 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:28.560 concentrate on or talk about the greed of government? Anyway, 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.800 we'll pick this story up coming up. I'm Kevin Gordon, 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:39.040 America's Trucking Network, seven hundred WLW. I'm Kevin Gordon, America'structing Network, 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:43.000 seven hundred WLW. Talking about these energy prices and talking 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.920 about the producer Price Index and so on and they're 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:50.800 talking about how energy prices are increasing and so on, Well. 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.360 Where are the tariffs? As far as that is concerned. 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.360 Aren't some of these energy prices as a result of 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.160 the regulations that the government has put on these and 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.680 the restrictions they put on that creates the tight supply. 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.920 The fact that we haven't built a new refinery in 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.559 the United States in over forty seven years. Forty seven years, 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.360 When was the last time you heard that? Oh, well, 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:22.000 any manufacturing company hasn't changed their manufacturing process in over 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.920 forty seven years. How many times have you heard that 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:30.520 a particular company hasn't expanded in forty seven years? Well, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.720 the refining industry with and again when you look at 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.920 forty seven years, how our population has grown, how many 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.560 more people are out on the highways driving these days, 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.400 And the fact that we have our refining capabilities running 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.400 about ninety five ninety six percent. I don't know that 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.080 there's a business out there that runs at ninety six 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:57.120 percent efficiency. Now, well, accept americastructure network. We generally operate 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.480 around well, I'd say about ninety nine percent efficiency. But again, 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:05.360 when you look at different businesses, they don't operate that high. 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:09.520 And yet the petroleum industry, refining industry, they are operating 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:14.240 at ninety five ninety six percent capacity and efficiency. So 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.280 when you look at these energy prices, there's a reason 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.520 for them. We explain in the for a previous segment, 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.200 the fact that when you've got these summer blends that 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.920 are in there, they are called they cost more to produce. 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.760 They cost because there's more additives in there to reduce pollution, 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.199 especially during the summer months. So when those additives are 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.160 in there, that increases the cost of gasoline. And of 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.240 course during the summer driving season tail end of the 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:40.640 summer driving season, you're going to see more people out 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.520 on the road, more people having a vacation, more people 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:46.680 out there, which is a good sign for the economy, 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.199 which isn't a bad sign because if there's more consumption 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.600 and there's more more consuming of gasoline, that means people 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.160 are out there driving, That means that they're out having fun, 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.000 they're on vacation, they're spending money make keeping the wheels 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.839 of the economy moving along. The cost of energy in 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.320 terms of transportation, as far as diesel prices are concerned, 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.880 or the diesel amount that's consumed, those indicates that there's 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.040 more and more trucks on the road, more and more 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.240 stuff being delivered to stores, more and more stuff being 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.800 delivered all around the country, and so that would be 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.679 a good sign. But these are just seasonal types of things, 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.720 and it seems like as though that they want to 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.720 concentrate on that. And yet when they look at the 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:33.200 overall producer price index, it is basically unchanged from what 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.120 it was back in August. So when you look at that, 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.480 it's not going up, it may not be going down. 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.000 It's basically the same, and that is not a bad 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.320 thing in the overall context of everything. But I just 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.760 find it interesting when you look at the individual headlines 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.880 rising energy costs, lift producer prices or core or a 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:58.199 better summary core Core wholesale prices rose less than expected 0:12:58.240 --> 0:12:59.000 in September. 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.120 Retail s also gain. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:06.240 Now I saw another headline that people are encouraged or 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:11.960 talking about despite the tepid retail sales gains. Well, if 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:16.040 retail sales are going and again it depends on how. 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:16.640 They are viewing this. 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:19.760 Are they viewing this as a glass half empty or 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.880 a glass half full? It depends on the news agency. 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.640 When they're looking at the individual prices in terms of 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.080 retail sales and what's going on there. There's been some 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.160 good news there. Let's see core wholesale prices rose far 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:39.400 listening expected retail sales gain retail sales, I believe we're 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:42.560 up two tenths of a percentage point in September, a 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.440 bit softer than the three tenths of a percentage point 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:50.360 that they expected. However, sales excluding autos rose point three percent, 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.480 in line with estimates. Misscellaneous retailers saw a two point 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.360 nine percent increase on the month, while gas stations, owing 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:02.840 to the higher prices, increased two percent. Sporting goods, hobby 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.200 and music stores saw two point five percent decline, and 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.880 online sales were off by eight point seven percent. The 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.640 fact the gasoline prices that the gasoline stations are selling 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.600 more gasoline, that's a good indication in terms of the 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.920 strength of the economy. Sales at eating and drinking establishment 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.400 and indicator of discretionary spending, increased a solid point seven 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.920 percent on the month and were up six point seven 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.640 percent from a year ago. Retail sales, which are adjusted 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:36.240 for seasonality but not inflation, increased four point three percent 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.960 from a year ago, ahead of the three percent CPI 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.640 rate for the month. So the retail sales because of 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:47.720 that one number, because they were expecting it to go 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.440 up point three percent over all and it only went 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.400 up two point two percent, they were saying that there's 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:59.200 soft retail sales one tenth of a percentage point. In 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:03.000 terms of what the sales are versus what people are 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.640 anticipating in terms of an increase that is not that 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.560 far off, and to only concentrate on the negative is 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.720 one of the things that I talk about in terms 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.440 of how the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.520 are trying to manufacture a recession. They are trying to 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:24.160 downplay the economy. They're trying to put the idea in 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.720 people's head that things are worse than they actually are. 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:28.200 Now. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.240 I know that on a regular basis, when you're talking 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:37.000 about lower income people, they are definitely affected more by 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:40.560 some of these rising prices. But if you're talking about 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:47.320 rising gasoline prices, when you're talking about increase regulatory mandates 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:52.120 on the energy production and that increases the cost, that 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.760 is some of the stuff that's affecting the lower end. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.800 Because those people on the lower end of the scale 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.480 can't afford that. But when you look at the food 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.440 prices overall and what they're doing, and especially at this 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.840 time of the year, during the holidays and during Thanksgiving, 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.520 as I've said, I'm you know, being out in the 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.360 grocery stores and looking at the numbers from last year 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.960 that we spent in the Gordon household versus what we're 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.240 spending this year. We are below what we were spending 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.520 last year. We were a full seventy cents per pound 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.680 on the on the turkey that we bought, and instead 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:29.040 of a frozen turkey this year, we bought actually a 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:34.600 fresh organic turkey, which should have pushed that price higher. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.560 But because of the turkey prices and the prices that 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.400 are being offered and trying to woo people into the stores, 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.680 these stores have actually been reducing their prices to try 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.200 to accommodate people in these in these times. And when 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.640 you look at Walmart's earnings being up, then you know, 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.640 is it, you know, if they're just trying to if 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.360 the thinking is is that any of the increases and 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.720 prices of stuff from Whole, from Walmart or some of 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:05.680 these retailers are to cover the increased prices to them 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:10.480 in terms of tariffs or increasing prices. Wouldn't you think 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:16.040 that their sales or that their revenue increases would be flat. 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.359 But if their prices are going up, that means that 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:24.959 they're charging more for their goods that they can Actually 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.600 they've got a bigger cushion because their sales are going up. 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.160 I don't know in terms of the number of items 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:35.159 that are being sold, but their retail sales are up significantly, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.840 And so if they are raising their prices, are they 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.280 raising their prices as a result of saying that, Oh well, 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.200 you know, people are talking about terraffs, people are talking 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.439 about the possibility of inflation from that. So if we 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.800 increase prices and blame it on tariffs, we'll have some 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:52.440 cover there. 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:54.640 And I think that's what's going on. 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.920 You know, going back to the pandemic, there was things 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:02.320 going on in the food service industry and different businesses 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:05.080 where they were blaming things on the supply chain issues. 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.400 But it was a matter of basically not being able 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.280 to get the employees back from being laid off and 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.960 being terminated and so on building back the infrastructure there 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:17.840 as far as your employees, plus the fact of having 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.600 to retrain people in terms of doing the retail sales 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:26.560 and so on at being short short staffed, and the 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.080 fact that some of these items that you don't know 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:31.760 where how much volume were going to have, so you 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.000 didn't order enough, and so when you run out, blame 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.000 it on supply chain issues, when in fact it was. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.240 Just well, we made a mistake, we didn't order enough. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.040 And so this business of what I'm seeing in terms 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.119 of some of these profits and as far as some 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.280 of these companies are concerned, when they're talking about, oh, well, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.680 we had to raise prices because of Terriff's, but they're 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.240 making more of a profit than they did last year, 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:57.399 that tells me that they're trying to sneak in some increases. 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.600 That aren't related to terroriffts and that aren't related to. 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.159 Inflation, that they're just artificially raising prices just for the 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:06.200 sake of raising prices. So anyway, that's my two cents worth. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.440 I keep saying two cents worth, and I can't say 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:11.720 that anymore because you know, they stop printing pennings. I'm 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:26.200 Kevin Gordon, america'struck in network. Seven hundred WLW, seven hundred WLW. 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.160 I'm Kevin Gordon. This is America's truck in network. Missing 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.280 any part of our program, any part of our shows. 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.400 Hit up that iHeartRadio app and of course that's brought 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:36.600 to you by our friends at Rest Truck Center. Another 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:40.240 story that I just saw September retail sales rise despite 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:45.560 consumer caution. They talk about US retail sales rose modestly 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:49.480 in September, suggesting some consumers hit the pause button after 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:55.720 several months of robust spending. Sometimes, you know, when people 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:59.239 are spending money at certain times, they just hit the 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.639 pause button. And let's not forget that we just had 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.959 the back to school, back to school sales and the 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.920 back to school spending by people getting their kids back 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.320 to school. Let's not for I mean, if you're talking 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.280 about retail sales, if you're talking about luxury items, if 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:23.159 you're talking about what they call about income that you 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.320 have after you've paid all your discretionary income, the money 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.520 that you have left over, if you have any money 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.720 left over, have to pay all the requirements you spend 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:35.000 on leisure stuff as far as going out to dinner 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.760 or movies or any of those kinds of things. Well, 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.360 let's not forget the fact. And I'm not seeing any 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.040 of that reflected in these numbers, the fact that you 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.920 had back to school expenses coming into play. You had 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.439 new clothes for the kids, you had the backpacks, you 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.320 had the school supplies, you had the school fees, you 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:54.440 had some of these other things. You know, every time 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.880 I remember when our kids were young, when they were 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:02.240 in school, it would always surprise me every year that, Okay, 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:07.399 here are the school fees that come up that you 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:09.920 have to pay at the beginning of the year and thereabouts. 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.720 And I was always surprised at how much that went. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:15.560 Up year after year after year. 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.200 And it's like you kind of expected, where are you 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.399 going to go to complain about it? What are the 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:23.760 fees for? What are they spent on any of this 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.359 type of thing. And again, it may be where they're 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:32.840 trying to because of maybe tax rates not going up 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.280 as much as they'd like them, or a school having 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.159 not being passed, so they're passing along this stuff to 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.919 the to the actual you know, the people that are 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:43.520 going to the schools, they pass that along to the parents. 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.360 But if going to the back to school and you're 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:50.040 paying all this stuff as far as again, all the 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.879 supplies going in, the new clothes, all that sort of 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.040 thing that's going to take away from other areas in 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:58.960 the economy where you would normally be spending your money. 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.320 So if they make a pause in terms of what 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:06.120 they're saying here, it may be just simply because it's 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:07.520 the back to school effect. 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:08.240 And so. 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.359 That's why it's so important to dig into these numbers 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.320 and explain them, because again, if you just go off 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:18.520 the headlines from the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media, 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:21.480 I think you're getting a false sense of what's going 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.359 on as far as the economic data is concerned. And 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:28.600 I find that I find it, how should I say, 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:32.919 journalistic malpractice so to speak. One of the reports that 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:35.920 came out also with consumer confidence, and that was from 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:40.760 the Conference Board, which is the different from the consumer 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.840 Sentiment report we talked about yesterday from the University of Michigan. 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:51.840 Consumer confidence report comes from the Consumer Confidence Index comes 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:55.520 from this Census Bureau, and that is the arm of 0:22:55.560 --> 0:22:57.760 the federal government and they come up with their own 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:02.040 idea in terms of consumer confidence and so on. So 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:04.200 the interesting thing here is that some of the key 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:08.639 pieces consumers soured on the current economy and their prospects 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:11.800 for future with worries growing over the ability to find 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:15.560 a job. According to the Conference Board survey released on Tuesday, 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:19.760 the Board's consumer confidence index for November slumped to eighty 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:23.400 eight point seven, a drop of six point eight points 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:27.359 from the prior month, for its lowest reading in seven months. Now, 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:30.480 why would that be, do you suppose could it possibly 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:34.040