Current Events in October 2023

Going somewhere, putting a roof over your head and food on the table all continued to be increasingly expensive last month, as the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose a hotter-than-expected 0.4% over August.

Over the last 12 months, the CPI has risen 3.7%, the same as the month before. A handful of consumer expenditures caused the most pain.

The cost of shelter was the largest contributor to the monthly all-items increase, accounting for over half of the rise. An increase in the gasoline index was also a major contributor to the all items monthly increase. While the major energy component indexes were mixed in September, the energy index rose 1.5% over the month. 

The food index increased 0.2% in September, as it did in the previous two months. But there was a big difference in the cost of groceries and food consumed at restaurants. The index for food at home increased by 0.1% over the month while the index for food away from home rose by 0.4%.

Overall, the cost of transportation continued to go up. Not only did gasoline prices rise 2.1%, but the cost of keeping vehicles running continued a multi-month rise. The cost of maintaining and repairing cars and trucks rose 10.% last month while the cost of insuring those vehicles surged by nearly 19%.

Here’s what was cheaper

The only break consumers got as far as transportation is concerned is if they traveled by air. In September, airfares dropped by 13.4%.

Paying for a place to live is getting to be increasingly difficult. In September, rents and assorted costs rose 7.4%. It wasn’t much cheaper for homeowners as the owners’ equivalent of rent costs increased by 7.1%.

Among food costs, dairy and related products was the only category to get cheaper in September, falling by 0.2%. Consumers using natural gas also saw relief as the price plunged by 19.1% from August.

The price of used cars and trucks dropped another 8% last month but remain well over their pre-pandemic cost. A lengthy auto workers strike could well reverse that consumer-friendly trend in the months ahead.

Oliver Rust is head of Product at independent inflation data aggregator Truflation, which tracks prices in real-time. He says prices appear to be falling this month.

The increase in [September] inflation was driven by gasoline and housing, with some downward relief coming from utilities, medical care, and used cars,” Rust told ConsumerAffairs. “In comparison, Truflation data puts U.S. CPI at 2.37% as of October 12, as our diverse, real-time data streams show strong declines in the food and beverages, utilities, and health sectors over the last quarter.”

When it comes to battles of the titans, nothing beats a good one-upmanship between Google and Apple.

Just weeks after Apple dropped the new iPhone 15, Google responded with the Pixel 8. But now, Google threw another “top this, will ‘ya” at Apple by releasing the new Android 14 system – an update that’s packed with many features Apple may have to lean on its engineers to match.

The updates include a new Pixel camera interface, more ways to extend battery life and better navigation for kids who use Android-driven tablets. Here’s a device-by-device breakdown of what’s what:

The camera and lock screen

Google claims the system’s new camera interface allows users to toggle easier between photo and video modes by planting an icon for each on the bottom of the phone app. Supposedly, users can make their favorite modes system camera defaults so they can access them quicker and, then, when they want to expand their horizons a bit, they can easily slide over to the new modes they might have missed.

Photographers with advanced skills will like what Google has done in regard to RAW images, too. It's now easier than ever to edit RAW images taken on Pixel 6 and newer phones as well as the Pixel Tablet. RAW images can be automatically opened in your favorite RAW editor directly from the Photos interface.

Power features

Got a drawer full of USB cables? Yep, everyone does. But while they should all, in theory, act the same they don’t. Some recharge a device in no time flat, others are slower than molasses.

On both Pixel 6 and newer phones and on Pixel Tablet, the user will be notified if their power adapter or USB cable is charging their device slowly or not at all.

Battery Saver gets an upgrade, too. Instead of waiting to notify you when your device is an hour or so away from losing power, the new Battery Saver can be brought up anytime to show you what is being restricted on your Pixel, allowing you to select essential apps that can continue to run when you toggle on Extreme Battery Saver.

You can also turn on Battery Saver or Extreme Battery Saver with automatic notifications at 10% and 20%.

Improved privacy

Health and wellness apps – especially ones for pregnancy and mental health – have been a minefield lately. App stores have done their best to let app users know what data is collected by each app, but some sneaky app makers decided they could say one thing and do another and limit a user’s visibility and control over their data.

To hopefully get that issue back in the consumer’s favor, Google is introducing Health Connect, a module built into the new Android 14 settings as a central way to store all your data in one place and stay in control of your privacy.

“And your data is securely encrypted on your phone, which ensures Google or anyone else can't see or use it for any other purpose,” Google’s Dave Burke, vice president of Engineering, Android, said. Just connect and sync your favorite health and fitness apps — like Oura, Peloton and Whoop — to get started.

Another pain point Google is trying to cure is location data. With the new Android 14 rollout, you should have more visibility into how your data is being used by apps that are requesting access to your data.

“Now, when you’re asked to grant apps permission to information like your location you’ll be notified when an app is sharing location data with third parties and can make a more informed decision on whether or not to grant access,” Burke added.

Giving the kids a break on navigation

If you have a little tyke who’s got an Android tablet, there’s now a kid-friendly mode called Google Kids Space, which is chock full of kid-friendly content and a new streamlined navigation bar that takes out the geekiness of navigating, switching apps, etc. 

Helping out the hard-of-hearing and vision-impaired, too

One of the most impressive features Android 14 has in store is for low-vision and hard-of-hearing users. For the hearing impaired, Google has more intuitive ways to connect and interact with hearing aids all from a shortcut on the phone’s screen. 

For low-vision users, Google has improved the magnifier, so now when you want to enlarge some text, it’s a simple pinch-and-zoom maneuver – one that’s easily customized in the new Magnifier Settings panel. You can also establish the baseline and maximum font size to better suit your vision range.

One other thing that’s good for the vision- and hearing-impaired, but could come in handy for anyone who wants a different setting for Notifications is “Flash notifications”. With this setting, you get visual light flashes when you have incoming notifications instead of audio pings.

Better Chromebook and phone/tablet integration

It’s always been a drag when you’re streaming something on your phone and when you sit down to your laptop, you have to reconnect the stream or log into the app again. Google says no more.

On the new system, you can begin using an app on your Pixel device and, then, switch seamlessly and start using it on your Chromebook. Everything you typically do on your phone, too – including messages, check on deliveries, etc.

Continental Tire the Americas is recalling 3,472 CrossContact LX25 tires, sizes 235/55R18 100H and 225/65R17 102H.

The tires may contain rubber compound contaminated with small metal fragments.

Metal contaminants in the tire sidewalls can cause a sudden loss of air pressure, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Dealers will replace the tires, free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed November 27, 2023.

Owners may contact Continental customer service at (888) 799-2168.

If you use recycling bags – especially Hefty or Great Value (Walmart) brand recycling bags – you could qualify for as much as a $50 settlement payment.

As a result of a class action settlement, Reynolds Consumer Products, the bag manufacturer, agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims that it wrongfully marketed its trash bags as “recycling” bags despite their inability to actually be recycled at numerous solid waste disposal facilities.

Reynolds disputed the allegations and the court has not made any determination about who is right, but Reynolds apparently felt it was better to fork over the $3 million and be done with this once and for all.

Proof of purchase? $50! No proof? $12

The settlement benefits consumers who purchased Hefty and/or Great Value brand recycling bags between July 20, 2018, and Aug. 30, 2023.

Under the provisions of the settlement, anyone who filed to be a class member can receive $2 per purchased product. With proof of purchase, consumers can claim up to 25 products, for a $50 maximum payment. But get this -- even those without proof of purchase, win too. They can claim up to six products, for a maximum payment of $12.

A full list of the Hefty and Great Value brand Recycling bags included in the Settlement can be found here.

All that’s required to receive a settlement check is to file a request either online or via mail by no later than December 13, 2023. You can find those details here and answers to any questions about the lawsuit and claim process here.

Are you someone who sets their alarm for 5 a.m. to ensure you make your 6 a.m. workout? Or are you someone who gets all their work and responsibilities done throughout the day, and plans their workout for early or late evening?

Or are you someone embarking on a health journey and you’re unsure when to plan your exercise? Results from a recent study published in Obesity may be of help. 

Compared to those who worked out later in the day, researchers found that working out between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. was associated with better weight loss outcomes. 

“This is exciting new research that is consistent with a common tip for meeting exercise goals – that is, schedule exercise in the morning before emails, phone calls, or meetings that might distract you,” said clinical psychologist and behavioral weight management expert Rebecca Krukowski, PhD. 

Early workouts yield better outcomes

To better understand what time of day exercising yields optimal weight loss outcomes, the researchers analyzed data from over 5,200 participants enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2006.

Over the course of the study, the participants wore accelerometers to measure their activity levels for at least four consecutive days but up to seven days total. Then, based on when they worked out, they were put into one of three groups – morning, midday, or evening. 

The two primary factors that the researchers measured were body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. The study revealed that those who worked out in the morning had both lower BMIs and lower waist circumferences, on average. 

More to consider

It’s also important to note that other factors may have affected these results. For instance, participants who regularly worked out in the mornings were older – by at least a decade – than participants in the other two groups.

They also had never used tobacco or alcohol, had the most female participants than any of the other two groups, and also had the most amount of sedentary time of the three groups. 

While the findings from this study certainly provide insight into health, wellness, and weight loss, experts say that there is more to consider. 

“It is not known whether people who exercise consistently in the morning may be systematically different from those who exercise at other times, in ways that were not measured in this study,” Dr. Krukowski said. “For example, people who exercise regularly in the morning could have more predictable schedules, such as being less likely to be shift workers or less likely to have caregiving responsibilities that impede morning exercise. 

“Predictable schedules could have other advantageous effects on weight that were not measured in this study, such as sleep length/quality and stress levels. In addition, the ‘morning larks’ who consistently rise early enough for morning exercise may be biologically different from their ‘night owl’ counterparts.” 

The attack on Israel by Hamas and the prospect of a Middle East war caused a spike in the price of gold this week, but the precious metal remains well below its high for the year. 

So, if you were thinking of investing some money in gold, is now a good time to buy? Alex Ebkarian, COO and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Allegiance Gold, believes it is.

“Gold is viewed as a mid-to long-term, safe-haven investment that diversifies portfolios and, over time, helps investors weather inflation, high interest rates, and especially geopolitical uncertainty, including various conflicts we are witnessing like the Ukraine war, US-China tensions, and now the Middle East,” Ebkarian told ConsumerAffairs.

Gold prices rose about 1% on the first day of trading after the attack on Israel. Ebkarian says that’s not unusual since investors often flee to safety amid periods of international tensions.

There are several ways to invest in gold. You can invest in physical gold bars and coins. We recently reported that Costco has begun selling one-ounce gold bars on its website.

But investors can also invest their money in gold IRAs, ETFs, futures, options and gold mining stocks.

“However, we believe that investing in physical, tangible gold is the optimum strategy because it offers the investor more control and privacy since transactions can be relatively discreet, and eliminates counterparty risk,” Ebkarian said. “When you own physical gold, you do not have to rely on any financial institution or counterparty to fulfill your investment.”

Another view

However, you do have to find a way to securely store it. And there are other considerations before making an investment.

Robert Johnson, professor of Finance at the Heider College of Business at Creighton University, thinks there are better places to put your money. 

“While having a small position in precious metals may dampen portfolio volatility in the short-run, the tradeoff between slightly dampened volatility and the lost long-term return is certainly not a prudent one, particularly for Gen Z/millennials with long investing time horizons,” Johnson told us.

But CNBC stock picker Jim Cramer believes everyone should have some gold, in some form, in their portfolio of assets, calling it a hedge against inflation.

Check out ConsumerAffairs’ reviews of gold dealers and gold IRAs. And it's always a good idea to talk to a trusted and objected financial adviser before making a major investment.