Shoulda bought plywood...

In early 2020, I decided to invest more money in Target as a pandemic-resistant stock.  And I stayed with it, which is fine.  But... I should have sold my TGT and moved the funds into a few truckloads of plywood.  Last week I was talking to a neighbor who is a building contractor.  He told me that sheets of plywood were costing him $75 vs. $25 about a year ago.

I found confirmation at Politifact: 

"...there are indications that the price of plywood has risen in the range of 252%.  Shawn Church, editor of Random Lengths, which publishes price data on the wood products industry, gave us figures for 23/32-inch plywood produced in the Pacific Northwest and the South. 

The price in the Northwest for Fir 23/32-inch sheathing for the first week of April was $1,610 per thousand square feet, up 287% from $560 a year earlier.

In the South, the price of that panel was $1,500 per thousand square feet, up 230% from $455 one year ago..."

- and at an Oregon news site:

The director of purchasing and finance with Renaissance Homes, Marc Hartman, said last January it cost him about $8 for a sheet of plywood. Today, that price is closer to the mid-$40 range. In some cases, it’s costing $20,000-$25,000 dollars or more to build a home with just the high cost of plywood alone.

- and Woodworking Network says thieves are now targeting truckloads of lumber:

Two more lumber robberies have been reported in late May.  The first took place at Timber Creek Community, a neighborhood currently being built in Fort Myers, Florida. 144 sheets of plywood - valued at around $10,000 - were stolen on May 21.,, The second incident took place at a construction site in Denver, where thieves reportedly stole $5,000 worth of lumber.  “Seven months ago, that was probably worth $1,500 and they probably wouldn’t want to steal it..." 

Note there is also a rising risk for landowners who have woodlots.