News From the Control Tower - 5/26/2022

News from the Control Tower: Our weekly curated list of news stories affecting you and your finances.

This week’s reads include:

1.       Big retailers might soon be forced to offer big discounts

The issue facing the industry is partly an echo of the pandemic, as big box retailers actively worked to expand inventory during 2021 as shuttered factories and materials shortages — and the Ever Given — led to empty shelves. Big box retailers resolved to avoid these issues by expediting orders when available, and ordering more quantities upfront in advance of the 2022 season.

Turns out some of that may have been too much.

2.       To See Food Inflation at Work, Look Inside Your Bag of Potato Chips

Prices of potatoes, cooking oil, gas for frying and packaging all soar: ‘Every single input cost has risen’

3.       A Turf War on the Water in “Anchored Out”

A new documentary captures a wealthy Bay Area county’s efforts to evict a ragtag community of boat dwellers.

4.       In Battle for Workers, Companies Build Houses

Disney, meatpacker JBS and others launch plans to add affordable housing near job sites; a Vail, Colo., project draws opposition

5.       Ernie Barnes’s ‘Sugar Shack’ Painting Brings Big Price at Auction

An iconic image sells for $15.3 million at Christie’s to Bill Perkins, an energy trader, who says he’s been waiting his whole life to buy that work of art.

Bonus: Black shelter animals weren't getting adopted. A photographer had an idea: glam shots