Single Malt Week in Review
Inflation, spending, & more
The King of England convinced President Trump to remove whiskey tariffs this week, which would have baffled the Founding Fathers when they were writing the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago.
Whether you’re drinking to celebrate all-time stock market highs or to soften the blow of this week’s dreadful inflation data, it’s hard to complain about lower Scotch taxes.
Monday
Oil Stuff
The Strait of Hormuz is still very much closed, oil prices surged again this past week, and we’re nearing a point where summer travel could become prohibitively expensive for many Americans.
Gas prices bounced to $4.26/gallon during the week ending April 27th. That’s the highest since the middle of 2022, and it looks like we’re going higher. Diesel prices fell to a still very elevated $4.35/gallon.
TSA Checkpoint Travel Numbers
Air travel volumes continue to slide relative to year-ago levels. Higher jet fuel prices are going to do a number on our airlines.
Tuesday
Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index
This measure of consumer sentiment inched up in April, but it reflects April 1-22, and the oil situation looked better 2-3 weeks ago.
Confidence by age is the most interesting part of this release. Has a bad labor market for young adults stressed out their Gen X parents? Why are Baby Boomers feeling worse than the Silent Generation? Is rising Millennial confidence because AI makes it feel like they got the last chopper out of Vietnam?
S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index
Home prices increased modestly in February, ending a streak of 7 straight monthly declines. Even so, prices are up just 0.7% over the past year, though high mortgage rates mean housing affordability remains a huge problem.
