I find they come and go for peak trains. My absolute favorite train, 85 on Friday afternoons, will often not have Savers available until about two months out and then they disappear after a few weeks. My theory is that with their yield management system they only release Saver fares for peak trains if it looks like sales are slow near the date of travel (by near I mean 4-8 weeks).

And yes, the price increase was annoying. NYP-BAL actually had the increase before NYP-WAS did. Sometimes those increases are temporary, though, and, as well, there have been many more $39 sales than previously.