I knew prices were outlandish now, but really.
3 pieces of 2 x 4 x 8'
2 pieces of 2 x 8 x 8'
1 sheet of 3/4" plywood/OSB.
$225.
18 months ago that would have been maybe $70. Even the checkout-guy looked at the scanned price of the OSB and said, "Can this be correct?"
Had to have it for critical repairs, but OMG. Had some other household projects to do, improvements, but they are cancelled.
This stuff is grown and finished within eyesight of here, final finish a few miles away in Tacoma, WA. I cannot imagine what it costs where trucked. The other weird thing is, the shelves were not scarce, for anything. In fact, pretty much over-flowing with supply. Not just lumber, but plumbing, paint, etc. You can't tell me "demand is outstripping supply." It's something else.
Hello inflation, hello economic contraction, hello foreign investment reverse-flows. I'm shorting everything.
I'm going to (very reluctantly, as I don't believe in the "I know this because blah-blah-blah school of scolding) add the following credentials to this little anecdote. I have a minor in economics from Harvard, used to work on Wall Street as an institutional broker. Later elsewhere as a hedge fund trader. I've seen this cyclical song so many times, it's not funny. We are so far down the road now there is no turning around.
3 pieces of 2 x 4 x 8'
2 pieces of 2 x 8 x 8'
1 sheet of 3/4" plywood/OSB.
$225.
18 months ago that would have been maybe $70. Even the checkout-guy looked at the scanned price of the OSB and said, "Can this be correct?"
Had to have it for critical repairs, but OMG. Had some other household projects to do, improvements, but they are cancelled.
This stuff is grown and finished within eyesight of here, final finish a few miles away in Tacoma, WA. I cannot imagine what it costs where trucked. The other weird thing is, the shelves were not scarce, for anything. In fact, pretty much over-flowing with supply. Not just lumber, but plumbing, paint, etc. You can't tell me "demand is outstripping supply." It's something else.
Hello inflation, hello economic contraction, hello foreign investment reverse-flows. I'm shorting everything.
I'm going to (very reluctantly, as I don't believe in the "I know this because blah-blah-blah school of scolding) add the following credentials to this little anecdote. I have a minor in economics from Harvard, used to work on Wall Street as an institutional broker. Later elsewhere as a hedge fund trader. I've seen this cyclical song so many times, it's not funny. We are so far down the road now there is no turning around.
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