European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 stars and stripes wednesday april 18 2007 your Money us Consumers f policymakers Call inflation figures uncomfortably High by Dave Carpenter the associated press Chicago Consumers had cause to cheer or at least applaud politely last week when the government forecast summer Gaso line prices slightly below last years the Outlook May not be As be Nign for visits to their favorite supermarkets and restaurants among other destinations and perhaps for rates on their credit card and mortgage Bills either prices on everything from Cere Al and milk to soft drinks and red meat Are on the upswing due partly to the ethanol and Bio diesel Boom which is pushing up prices for Corn and other commodities High Energy prices also remain troublesome regardless whether Gas tops a gallon and clothing costs Are up this year too All that explains Why Federal Reserve policymakers cited uncomfortably High inflation read Ings As being their biggest worry according to minutes released wednesday of their private discussions last month it feels like we could be in for a period of higher inflation at our stores and restaurants for a year or two or three said Mark Zandi chief economist at Moodys econ omy com in West Chester a Jessica Parks a work Romyome mom in sum Merville a said Shes Cut Back on regular family outings to restaurants and Bowling alleys theres just no room in the Bud get said Parks who works for a customer service company after losing the family Home in a fire last december she bought replacement clothes for the kids online and at a local Walmart and was appalled to find it Cost instead of the roughly she was anticipating the most re cent Shock came when a single careful of groceries came to Over if s hard to Deal with Parks said and a lot of people Are ask ing Why everything just getting to be outrageous one familiar irritant the Price of gasoline has soared Well above a gallon in some places this Spring that could be temporary the Energy information administration said in a forecast released tuesday that the recent Spike in prices should ease in coming weeks but even that will leave the expected nationwide Cost of a gallon of regular Grade Gas this summer at an average comparable to last years adding to the Pinch apparel prices on Spring merchandise feeling the Pinch from rising costs wholesale costs for Gas and baked goods have risen in the last 15 years straining Consumers budgets wholesale prices in March 19922007 s20 18 16 14 12 10 80 60 40 unleaded regular gasoline per gallon preliminary figure 61 s20 5194 Cereal and bakery products 18 Perl 19 1992 2000 2007 1992 2000 2007 source us department of labor have been up and Dairy economists predict the retail Price of milk could jump 9 percent by fall this May All sound familiar to those who remember experts fret Ting about food prices edging up a year ago while gasoline made its seasonal War weather surge but Carl Tannenbaum chief economist at Lasalle Bank in Chicago says Hes concerned that productivity growth is slowing Down labor costs Are rising and food Energy health care and Educa Tion costs Are on the at the same time the year overhear change in the consumer Price Index which is heavily influenced by Energy prices has been running at 27 percent to 28 percent about the highest if s been in the past year on tuesday the Commerce de apartment reported that the Index Rose 06 percent in March the big Gest increase since a similar Rise in april of last year Energy prices surged by 59 percent last month the largest on month in crease since september 2005 when Hurricane katrina shut Down Gulf coast refineries in not suggesting inflation going to rage out of control Tannenbaum said but especially Given that the feds informal target is 2 percent we seem to be moving quite a bit away from it Kim Garretson of Edina Minn 56 and Semi retired from a corporate Job Felt the Impact of rising costs with a Jolt recently when a cashier rang up for a package of razor Blades that his son Home from College tossed in his shopping cart he also spends about a Day on Gas shuttling his daughter to and from High school and other destinations Ive become very cognizant of just the out of pocket expenses of Day today living he said and that s not living the life of the Rich and famous if s just going to Cost co to get the essentials to have around the House the Good news for Consumers is that the Price rises May not be allowed to get too severe Zandi said that if inflation shows any signs of accelerating significantly the fed Likely would raise the overnight Bank lending rate to slow growth and Knock the wind ouf of inflationary pressures they would sacrifice growth in the interest of stopping inflation he said in the Long run you get More growth if inflation is stable and Low an undesirable consequence of that of course would be higher borrowing costs nudging cred i card and mortgage rates still higher the erosion of value when prices Are higher because of inter est rates is something that cant be dismissed said Tannenbaum if you add half a percent to the rate americans pay on a Mort Gage that can add thousands and thousands of dollars to the Price of a mortgage on a 15or 30year loan apprehensive about prices As Well As declining Home values Consumers May pull Back on Pur chases the conference boards consumer Confidence Index fell last month to its lowest level since november mondays Market summary indexes 52 High week Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg 1279593 1068332 Dow Jones industrials 1272046 521142 413472 Dow Jones transportation 510410 51570 38097 Dow Jones utilities 51263 952286 770811 nose composite 962553 222476 180065 amex Index 222962 253142 201278 Nash a composite 251833 146157 121929 146847 87089 71033 87731 83001 66858 Russell 2000 83144 1482876 1224990 do Wilshire 5000 1489170 most Active or More name last chg Simp Pfizer Bostons i pm cup Geneles i Tigre of Stmars and Micron Kraft 624172 340230 337624 334655 332087 325396 258412 227376 222847 219475 5505 2694 1600 1476 3536 5293 3460 1352 1107 3276 02 943 05 19 04 most Active or More name last chg Spur ish Kenya spa Sci spongy Semi her on2tech Prus Haqq n oils vat do diam nth tag 742428 402540 323468 140919 126353 112245 101820 8s410 77791 76261 14670 8245 3657 6342 3469 2j50 5060 15550 12704 397 85 mostly Active or More name last chg push Sqq Intel Sun Micro Cisco Sirius Microsoft Dndr eoe Oracle Apple inc Dell Nulf 659814 556048 543390 502162 319111 283543 2t0284 257870 209117 188312 4506 2069 586 2662 304 2873 1572 1850 9143 2553 06 04 153 key defense stocks Valliant Armor computer general general Harris Allied l3 Lockheed Rockwell Seq a Texas text Ron United key Mutual funds name Nav Ltd Fidelity invest Greco 7278 Fidelity invest Granc 3201 Fidelity spartan  5198 Putnam funds a or snap 2064 Amer Century inv Ultra 2810 Fidelity invest Amorso 1665 Fidelity invest Oversea 4881 Fidelity invest us i 1087 aim investments a const p 2755 Frnk a Sec Para 4132 aim investments a Char tap 2252 Fidelity advisor tree let 3111 Fidelity advisor 3776 Putnam funds a Globe qty 1131 Dws Scudder Cis inti ads Fidelity advisor 2427 Dws Scudder cd s corp sinc 1267 Putnam funds a gig vap 1225 a Exchange rates military rates euro costs april Dollar buys april British Pound april japanese yen april South korean won april commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Furo Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan yen 11908 Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for Japan South Korea Germany the Netherlands and the United kingdom for no local currency Exchange rates in purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing facility commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying currency All figures Are foreign currencies to one Dollar except for the British Pound which is represented in  and the euro which is dollars euro precious metals new York merc dose Gold 469010 Silver interest track prime rate825 discount rate625 Federal funds Market rate 525 3month bill502 30year bond489 sources the associated press Bank of America its and sensibility Las minute tax tips by Marshall Loeb Market watch new York the tax dead Ine is Here Thomas e Crowley vice president and senior wealth planner for pc wealth manage ment in Pittsburgh has some suggestions for Las minute filers make sure the return you file s Complete and accurate if you feel you cant accomplish that by the deadline then file for an Extension instead of sending in an in Complete return you trigger More red flags and May have even More work to do than if you would have simply filed an Extension and a Complete return at a later Date says Crow Ley you can request an Extension online at Wiwi Rogov and you dont need a qualifying reason for the initial Extension dont forget to get an Extension for your state return As Well b pay up if you do get an Extension just remember that it Doest mean you also have an Extension of time to pay the tax you owe so determine your tax liability and make a payment even if youre filing for an Extension i would advise rounding up a bit says Crowley if s better to pay too much and have it applied to your tax liability for 2007 than to pay too Little and have to pay in Terest and penalties get your income right if youre filing in a Rush Dou Olecheck that you have reported All wage income and that you have accounted for All 1099s this is the first match that the irs looks for in the audit pro Cess so dont trigger this red Flag Crowley says note to readers Jim Coates computer column ask Jim will return to the your Money Page soon