Speedway $1.34 vs Exxon $1.49. These cover the range of regular gas prices in W. Georgia. I think I'll buy some more Exxon stock, their E.P.S. should go up by 10 to 15 percent this quarter. Maybe I can make back what the extra cost of gas has jumped up to.
I used to be able to find 87 octane for around $1.35 a gallon at a Mobil station off of I-97 near Baltimore. Last night, I was going that way, running on empty, passing gas stations that had recently jumped up to the $1.65+ range.
I pull into the gas station, only to get greeted with $1.659! I figured, well, I'd better fill up, because it's not going to get any better.
I put $20.00 in. Then, instead of going back to I-97, I continued down the road, to cut through the neighborhood. Not even 1/2 mile down the road, there was an Enron and (I think) a Citgo side by side, with $1.50 +/- a gallon! I guess sometimes it pays to look just a bit further off the interstate!
Nah, I finally got smart and quit that job (for the second time ;-) Hopefully, this time I'll stay retired from pizza delivery. The funny thing is, even with gas prices going up, I'd say I'm still paying less per mile driven now than I did back in 1996, when I first started delivering pizzas. Back then, I remember gas was around $1.00-1.10 a gallon. The only catch: the '68 Dart I was driving at the time only got about 13 mpg, while the Intrepid, in the same type of driving, will get 20! I think the worst fuel bill I've ever had in a month was something like $300.00, and that was back in '96, when I usually delivered 5 nights a week.
As for the midwest, I always thought their gas prices were higher than around the DC/Baltimore area. Back in October, though, I drove from DC to Chicago to look at an old Travco motorhome I was interested in (talk about a gas guzzler: 5 tons and an industrial 440!) I think around that time, gas was going for around $1.50 or so a gallon, but out in Ohio and Indiana, it was in the $1.30 range.
mornin all,just wanted to add my 5 cent's (inflation,no more 2 cent's)lol,monday I filled tank (93 high test) for 174.9,after a trip upstate (CT)filled again on wednesday,186.9.Is this disgusting or what.After buying my car (2001 maxima),I was told only to use 91 or better).Now I'm wondering if I can alternate the gas every other trip to the gas station.Not a lot of saving's but ouch,186.9?Thank god it's my husband that does the highway miles to work.(and he use's 87).Maybe we both should have bought mustangs,he's getting great mileage.
Good Amoco gas 179, 189, 199 I paid 1.3 million to fill up my Protege
umm, lira not dollars. Thought I'd try to fool ya'll, but you are too sharp for that old trick.
Thank God I didn't buy the Tahoe my wife wanted in 98.
I remember gas being 28 cents per gallon in State College PA in 1972. When I learned to drive in 1986 it was 90 cents. What happened? When My daughter learns to drive in 2014, gas will be $14.96 per gallon.
For those not keeping track (and there's much to be keeping track here in IL)
1.899, 1.999 and 2.099 at all the major players.
And again, I find the lag-behind station, fill up almost 11 gallons for 1.75 a gallon, and as I'm filling up the guy comes out with the numbers to change the sign... 1.879, 1.979 and 2.079.
This is very dishonest... claiming a 'shortage' again this year and 'unexpected demand.' It's summer for crissakes! It's not a new season!
In Charlevoix, MI (about 180 miles north of Grand Rapids):
Prices jumped about a dime between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. Overall, we've seen a price increase of about 20 cents in the past couple of weeks. Now, most stations in town are charging $1.769 for regular unleaded.
209 for premium in Naperville Il Chicago suburb. I'm seriously concidering drilling for oil in my back yard. Anyone own a refinery out there? Let's make a deal!
Down here around Ft. Lauderdale, regular unleaded is selling between $1.49 at a Citgo station to about $1.66 at a nearby Exxon station with the other grades higher. This is real insanity! Something unsavory seems to be going on in this country. Washington, keep your tax cut and find some cheaper oil for the coming years!
Maybe I'm just taking the Econ 101 view of things here and thinking too simple...
This morning I drove past a station that had $1.53 for regular. A half hour later, they were out changing the sign to $1.55. An hour later they changed it to $1.57. Who knows where it is by now...
I'm assuming that they didn't get two sets of deliveries in that time, so that the product they had in the ground had a fixed cost for them. It's VERY difficult to not start to think that we're seeing the use of a great excuse to gouge the consumers.
I almost forgot... this IS one of our local price-gouging weekends. The Penn State Blue/White spring football game is tomorrow and somewhere north of 50,000 people will show up. Gas prices around here always leap up just prior to a footbal weekend, although they steadfastly deny that there's any connection, saying it's just the normal effects of supply and demand... uh huh... so why is it that the prices go up BEFORE the demand hits?
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Opponents of legislated Fuel Price Regulation say that Pump Price of gasoline (and diesel) should be dictated by Free Market Forces ... and that legislated regulation will ultimately result in even higher Pump Prices for the consumer. Proponents of said regulation say that the Pump Price of fuel is directly linked to the world price of oil which is currently controlled by a Cartel (OPEC) and is anything BUT "Free Market" ... and if Price Regulation ultimately results in higher prices, then how come Prince Edward Island, the only Canadian province with price regulation, still has the cheapest fuel prices in Eastern Canada?
and price regulation in general. Don't know about PEI, but it has never worked here. But I'm always open to better information. Under a price regulated market, if the pump price was fixed at, say $X, and the cost of imported crude rose to an amount that would produce gasoline at $1.1X, who would pay the extra money to get the crude? Where would it come from? Would the Government pay the extra cost, insulating the consumer from higher pump prices?
Reg Unleaded cheapest $1.699 average $1.759 Why are the media and elected officials in denial that big oil companies are raking us over the coals? A month ago prices were $1.479 and the price literally jumped overnight! We ain't seen nothin' yet.
Well the day of the rising gas price finally stopped at $1.59. The football game is over, and by tomorrow at lunch time everyone who needs to get gas before leaving town probably will have done so. So it wouldn't surprise me to see prices fall again here.
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"As the region braces for what experts say could be another summer of high gas prices, possibly reaching $3 a gallon"
"Retail prices in Chicago on Monday averaged $1.86 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. That's up 15 cents from $1.61 on April 9, and up 25 cents from $1.51 on April 2. "
"...a bunch of baloney."
Either I was having a stroke, or I saw Meijer gas DOWN to 1.72 for regular, when everyone else is still at 1.89.
Maybe it was some sort of sale... feh... who knows.
People charge whatever the market will bear. Always have, always will.
Consider the following example. Your grandfather leaves you a house in silicon valley that he bought for 40,000 in 1980. You are lucky, as real estate in this area is in short supply, and demand for it is huge. You can get 400,000 for it. Is this "fair"? Should you sell it for 40,000 or some "reasonable" amount? Of course you will charge market price.
The lesson here is that market prices are what they are, no matter what you pay for something, you will sell it for whateve you can get. Yes a station that buys gas for same price can jack up the price later on same gas - economics predicts this.
Now consider refining gasoline. Let us say it costs 80 cents per gallon to refine gas. You sell it for 1.40 with tax. The refineries produce a million gallons per day in your state, people consume a million a day.
Now the EPA passes a clean gas spec, there is only capacity for 900,000 gallons. If prices stay the same there will be lines, and 10% of people will not be able to drive.
In a free market, there will never be lines or stations out of gas, producers raise prices until supply equals demand. The issue here is that gasoline is what economist call "inelastic", if price go from 1.40 to 2.00 a gallon consumption only goes up a small amount. Think of it this way: in effect millions of Chicago drivers are standing and waving money in the air, trying for high bid on a limitted supply of gas. It does not matter is production price stays the same, if supply goes down prices will go up. Way up.
One big issue is that the US has not built a major refinery in a long time, kind of like powerplants in CA. Eco's hate refineries.
So jack up those prices station owners. Eventually people will demand higher mileage cars and move closer to work. But expect a lot of whining about "unfairness" in the mean time.
But it was a finding of the Federal Trade Commission that distributors withheld supplies and it was not a 'natural' shortage.
It's assumed the same old shenanigans of lies, price gouging and plain old deceit are hard at work yet again this year.
But, however, it is a shame that our own oil producers in the US sell over 60% of their oil to overseas markets -- where they can get the most money, of course.
Imagine you purchase a product in quantites of 15 or 20 per week and the price increases 40% in a month, but your salary stays the same.
Anyway, who dictates gas should be at 1.50, or 2.00? It's gas. I could use public transport all day -- the train still uses gas (diesel). I could walk to the store -- shipping still uses gas. Heck, make gas $4.00 a gallon, and people will still buy it. I'm lucky enough to have the option of telecommuting, but what about Joe Constructionworker who has to drive around from job-to-job.
On a side note, this is going to have major implications, at least around here. Sure, gas goes up, people might drive less. But your store, who has to pay to get products from a distribution center, has to pay for the gas for the trucks. They're not going to stand long for an operating loss -- raise those prices. The store has to pay more -- raise those prices. Wonder Bread suddenly has to pay more to get grain, raise those prices.
-m
Others in the group, please don't get off topic like tabby and I have :-) We don't want the hosts kicking us out!
"In a free market, there will never be lines or stations out of gas, producers raise prices until supply equals demand."
Spoken like a man who has never sat on a gas line....
I suppose the two big gas crises where we did exactly that weren't "free markets" in that OPEC was controlling supply in order to push prices up but the real thing that created the lines was panic. Prices were going up quicker than anyone had ever seen so you really wanted to buy the gas right away. There was also a concern that if you didn't get the gas today it might not be there tomorrow.
Funny thing is wat stopped the 79 crisis in its tracks was simply odd-even rationing. Once you couldn't panic on Monday and had to wait until Tuesday you cooled down very quickly and went back to old habits like "I'll fill it when it hits a half tank." The lines vanished instantly.
Anyway, there's more to it than straight supply and demand - there's psychology in there as well. The same kind of mass psychology made the stock market rise higher than it had a right to and has now sent it lower than it should be.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
for people who complain about gas prices going up 15-20% while they are pouring it into oversized vehicles that consume fuel 50% faster than other vehicles that would meet their needs just as well.
Re-read before you flame: If you need a Hummer, then obviously I was not talking about you. If you don't need one, but you want one anyway, I'm only talking about you if you also complain about fuel prices. IMO you loose whining rights about fuel costs when you opt for a gas guzzler you don't need.
If I have to listen to one more owner of a giant SUV complain about gas prices.... The killer is that every person who buys such a thing just because it "looks cooler" or "is more luxurious" tahn a minivan is contributing far more than their share to kicking up the gas prices. The greedier we get for gas as a nation the higher the price goes.
Now I have no problem with people who buy SUVs and actually go off road with them but my guess would be that is no more than 10% of the people who drive them. What was that darn figure they used to use? People mpg? So if you're in a Suburban by yourself you are getting maybe 12 pmpg (12 mpg x 1 person) while when I'm in my Accord with the family I'm getting 120 pmpg (30 x 4 people). Obviously this is no perfect formula - not like I'll amke the family come to work so I can improve my numbers on the commute but we are indeed pissing away gasoline by the hundreds of barrels just to look cool.
Want to look cool? Spend that money on a Passat or a 3 series BMW. I'd bet you'd have so much fun driving teh thing you wouldn't worry about the size - and you won't tip over, either!
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
When they had gas lines gas lines, it is only because gas station owners were not allowed to be greedy enough. There were price controls in effect at the time, which were removed in the early 80s. Once they were removed, presto, no lines.
As far a odd-even rationing doing anything, don't count on it. This is a gimick like the great american gasout, you are not reducing consumption, just moving purchases around. Not to mention a meddlesome law - I wanna buy gas when I want.
High gas prices *do* reduce consumption. They work. They make people conserve. Which is why people hate them, what people really want is "feel good" laws that make "the other guy" cut down.
In the paper yesterday (AZ republic) there was an article about a contracter who drove a chevy suburban 100 miles a day - he said that he was thinking of getting something with better mileage now that prices were higher(eureka!). Go to my place of work and you will see many people drive full size 4wd trucks to work. There is nothing sacred about out current level of consumption, sometimes the economy has to adapt.
No I don't want to tell people what to drive. Just don't complain, live with your choice.
Imagine you have a gas station, and there is a line forming. You realize that your station will run out of gas. Why not raise the price?, you'd be stupid not to. To use the house analogy, you put your house for sale for 100k, the next morning there are 200 people camped on the lawn waving deposits. Don't know about you, but I would consider raising the price. Greed is like gravity, it works, you can always count on it.
If a line *does* form somewhere, and does not go away day after day, let me know. I will form a group of protesters and go try and get the owner to raise prices to a more reasonable level, that is until there is no line. I can't stand irrational economic practices.
Every time gas prices go up, people yell and scream and charge unfair practices. Politicians have to make noise to win support, they can't tell the truth, they would be voted out of office. But nothing ever happens. Review posts fom the last 4 price spikes, they start to sound the same.
My final comment: Why not another great american gas out? The last one was soooo successful gas prices went down to 30 cents a gallon. NOT.
There were no federal price controls on the gas stations. They could and did charge whatever they felt like. The day the odd even rationing went into effect the lines ended.
I am sorry that these facts don't fit into your theory.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Sure enough, the price increase that I noted right before the big spring football game here disappeared and gas prices went back down from $1.59 to $1.53 by Tuesday.
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I've never understood how gas that was in the ground and selling for $1.50 a gallon suddenly becomes $1.70 a gallon. IMHO, they were making a profit at $1.50, anything above that amount is strictly price gouging.
Case in point - last Thursday night, unleaded regular at my (former) usual station was $1.59. Friday morning, the price was $1.63. That afternoon the price was back down to $1.59. How is this so? To me, the $1.63 was nothing more than that station gouging the customer. No high priced gas was delivered Thursday night, nor was any "low priced" gas delivered Friday afternoon. Maybe they wanted to be the "leader" for raising prices in the neighborhood. Other stations, to their credit, didn't follow, so they brought the price back down. But they lost my business with that move.
LIFO: Last In First Out. The current price is applied imediately. You get the benefit when prices go down (in theory.) Some retailers are a bit slow dropping the prices when they do go down, but in theory you get to buy at the lower market price even though they have 1500 gallons they paid the higher price for. Makes no difference in the long run, as long as they apply their price changes consistently. Government auditors take a pretty close look at how they manage their inventory.
But I find it really hard to believe that this station had a delivery sometime after 9:00 p.m. Thursday night and ANOTHER delivery sometime before 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon. We drive a lot here, but not THAT much!
Costco still has the lowest prices at $1.959 for premium, but you must be a Costco member and use a credit/debit card. Cash is NO GOOD here. The closest "regular" stations are at $1.999. Most are between $2.019-2.119.
Tesoro is still conducting five-day "specials" on a rotating basis. Last week, it was $1.799 for any grade. The lines spilled out on the streets almost round-the-clock, particularly for those with gas-guzzling SUVs, limousines, and taxis. Locations on major thoroughfares cause traffic hazards during these promotions. Tesoro should re-think their strategy.
Comments
In Madison they're $1.65 for regular. - Thanks Jeffer2
I used to be able to find 87 octane for around $1.35 a gallon at a Mobil station off of I-97 near Baltimore. Last night, I was going that way, running on empty, passing gas stations that had recently jumped up to the $1.65+ range.
I pull into the gas station, only to get greeted with $1.659! I figured, well, I'd better fill up, because it's not going to get any better.
I put $20.00 in. Then, instead of going back to I-97, I continued down the road, to cut through the neighborhood. Not even 1/2 mile down the road, there was an Enron and (I think) a Citgo side by side, with $1.50 +/- a gallon! I guess sometimes it pays to look just a bit further off the interstate!
-Andre
Does that mean the price of pizza just went up too?
7 days ago $1.43
6 days ago $1.45
5 days ago $1.53
3 days ago $1.55
We've leveled off at the moment!
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Trendsetter of the nation...
or guinea pig?
Prices 'steady' at 1.77, 87 and 97 by me.
1.84, 94 and 2.04 near my parents in Cook County (higher taxes)
I paid 1.60 this past weekend in Minooka Illinois (either Kendall or Grundy County... not sure). I guess it's all tax related now!
-m
Nah, I finally got smart and quit that job (for the second time ;-) Hopefully, this time I'll stay retired from pizza delivery. The funny thing is, even with gas prices going up, I'd say I'm still paying less per mile driven now than I did back in 1996, when I first started delivering pizzas. Back then, I remember gas was around $1.00-1.10 a gallon. The only catch: the '68 Dart I was driving at the time only got about 13 mpg, while the Intrepid, in the same type of driving, will get 20! I think the worst fuel bill I've ever had in a month was something like $300.00, and that was back in '96, when I usually delivered 5 nights a week.
As for the midwest, I always thought their gas prices were higher than around the DC/Baltimore area. Back in October, though, I drove from DC to Chicago to look at an old Travco motorhome I was interested in (talk about a gas guzzler: 5 tons and an industrial 440!) I think around that time, gas was going for around $1.50 or so a gallon, but out in Ohio and Indiana, it was in the $1.30 range.
-Andre
Speedway cheapo gas:
171, 189, 199
Good Amoco gas
179, 189, 199
I paid 1.3 million to fill up my Protege
umm, lira not dollars. Thought I'd try to fool ya'll, but you are too sharp for that old trick.
Thank God I didn't buy the Tahoe my wife wanted in 98.
I remember gas being 28 cents per gallon in State College PA in 1972. When I learned to drive in 1986 it was 90 cents. What happened? When My daughter learns to drive in 2014, gas will be $14.96 per gallon.
For those not keeping track (and there's much to be keeping track here in IL)
1.899, 1.999 and 2.099 at all the major players.
And again, I find the lag-behind station, fill up almost 11 gallons for 1.75 a gallon, and as I'm filling up the guy comes out with the numbers to change the sign... 1.879, 1.979 and 2.079.
This is very dishonest... claiming a 'shortage' again this year and 'unexpected demand.' It's summer for crissakes! It's not a new season!
-m
87 - $1.439 - up 12 cents
89 - $1.539 - up 12 cents
93 - $1.619 - up 10 cents
94 - $1.659 - up 6 cents
diesel - $1.379 - up 6 cents
kcram
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Mid - $1.739
Hi - $1.799
Prices jumped about a dime between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. Overall, we've seen a price increase of about 20 cents in the past couple of weeks. Now, most stations in town are charging $1.769 for regular unleaded.
209 for premium in Naperville Il Chicago suburb. I'm seriously concidering drilling for oil in my back yard. Anyone own a refinery out there? Let's make a deal!
This morning I drove past a station that had $1.53 for regular. A half hour later, they were out changing the sign to $1.55. An hour later they changed it to $1.57. Who knows where it is by now...
I'm assuming that they didn't get two sets of deliveries in that time, so that the product they had in the ground had a fixed cost for them. It's VERY difficult to not start to think that we're seeing the use of a great excuse to gouge the consumers.
I almost forgot... this IS one of our local price-gouging weekends. The Penn State Blue/White spring football game is tomorrow and somewhere north of 50,000 people will show up. Gas prices around here always leap up just prior to a footbal weekend, although they steadfastly deny that there's any connection, saying it's just the normal effects of supply and demand... uh huh... so why is it that the prices go up BEFORE the demand hits?
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average $1.759
Why are the media and elected officials in denial that big oil companies are raking us over the coals? A month ago prices were $1.479 and the price literally jumped overnight! We ain't seen nothin' yet.
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hi-test(93)1.85 gal.
i hope you have a nice day.
sincerely
dishfish
-m
lowest 93 octane selling for $1.55
name brands cost much more
Leo
Some Quotes:
"As the region braces for what experts say could be another summer of high gas prices, possibly reaching $3 a gallon"
"Retail prices in Chicago on Monday averaged $1.86 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. That's up 15 cents from $1.61 on April 9, and up 25 cents from $1.51 on April 2. "
"...a bunch of baloney."
Either I was having a stroke, or I saw Meijer gas DOWN to 1.72 for regular, when everyone else is still at 1.89.
Maybe it was some sort of sale... feh... who knows.
-m
1.70, 1.80, 1.90 for those not paying attention
Interestingly enough, I live 4 miles from Meijer... all the stations from my house to there were empty. Meijer was jam packed.
I hope they're trying to start a 'gas war.' I can only win from that!
-m
Consider the following example. Your grandfather leaves you a house in silicon valley that he bought for 40,000 in 1980. You are lucky, as real estate in this area is in short supply, and demand for it is huge. You can get 400,000 for it. Is this "fair"? Should you sell it for 40,000 or some "reasonable" amount? Of course you will charge market price.
The lesson here is that market prices are what they are, no matter what you pay for something, you will sell it for whateve you can get. Yes a station that buys gas for same price can jack up the price later on same gas - economics predicts this.
Now consider refining gasoline. Let us say it costs 80 cents per gallon to refine gas. You sell it for 1.40 with tax. The refineries produce a million gallons per day in your state, people consume a million a day.
Now the EPA passes a clean gas spec, there is only capacity for 900,000 gallons. If prices stay the same there will be lines, and 10% of people will not be able to drive.
In a free market, there will never be lines or stations out of gas, producers raise prices until supply equals demand. The issue here is that gasoline is what economist call "inelastic", if price go from 1.40 to 2.00 a gallon consumption only goes up a small amount. Think of it this way: in effect millions of Chicago drivers are standing and waving money in the air, trying for high bid on a limitted supply of gas. It does not matter is production price stays the same, if supply goes down prices will go up. Way up.
One big issue is that the US has not built a major refinery in a long time, kind of like powerplants in CA. Eco's hate refineries.
So jack up those prices station owners. Eventually people will demand higher mileage cars and move closer to work. But expect a lot of whining about "unfairness" in the mean time.
Andrew
$1.98/gal for 87
$2.08/gal for 89
$2.18/gal for 92
Doh!
http://www.fuelmeup.com
http://www.fuelbargain.com
But it was a finding of the Federal Trade Commission that distributors withheld supplies and it was not a 'natural' shortage.
It's assumed the same old shenanigans of lies, price gouging and plain old deceit are hard at work yet again this year.
But, however, it is a shame that our own oil producers in the US sell over 60% of their oil to overseas markets -- where they can get the most money, of course.
Imagine you purchase a product in quantites of 15 or 20 per week and the price increases 40% in a month, but your salary stays the same.
Anyway, who dictates gas should be at 1.50, or 2.00? It's gas. I could use public transport all day -- the train still uses gas (diesel). I could walk to the store -- shipping still uses gas. Heck, make gas $4.00 a gallon, and people will still buy it. I'm lucky enough to have the option of telecommuting, but what about Joe Constructionworker who has to drive around from job-to-job.
On a side note, this is going to have major implications, at least around here. Sure, gas goes up, people might drive less. But your store, who has to pay to get products from a distribution center, has to pay for the gas for the trucks. They're not going to stand long for an operating loss -- raise those prices. The store has to pay more -- raise those prices. Wonder Bread suddenly has to pay more to get grain, raise those prices.
-m
Others in the group, please don't get off topic like tabby and I have :-) We don't want the hosts kicking us out!
$1.89 for premium.
$1.68 for unleaded.
Heard on the news, that Houston has the highest prices in Texas.
Spoken like a man who has never sat on a gas line....
I suppose the two big gas crises where we did exactly that weren't "free markets" in that OPEC was controlling supply in order to push prices up but the real thing that created the lines was panic. Prices were going up quicker than anyone had ever seen so you really wanted to buy the gas right away. There was also a concern that if you didn't get the gas today it might not be there tomorrow.
Funny thing is wat stopped the 79 crisis in its tracks was simply odd-even rationing. Once you couldn't panic on Monday and had to wait until Tuesday you cooled down very quickly and went back to old habits like "I'll fill it when it hits a half tank." The lines vanished instantly.
Anyway, there's more to it than straight supply and demand - there's psychology in there as well. The same kind of mass psychology made the stock market rise higher than it had a right to and has now sent it lower than it should be.
Re-read before you flame: If you need a Hummer, then obviously I was not talking about you. If you don't need one, but you want one anyway, I'm only talking about you if you also complain about fuel prices. IMO you loose whining rights about fuel costs when you opt for a gas guzzler you don't need.
Now I have no problem with people who buy SUVs and actually go off road with them but my guess would be that is no more than 10% of the people who drive them. What was that darn figure they used to use? People mpg? So if you're in a Suburban by yourself you are getting maybe 12 pmpg (12 mpg x 1 person) while when I'm in my Accord with the family I'm getting 120 pmpg (30 x 4 people). Obviously this is no perfect formula - not like I'll amke the family come to work so I can improve my numbers on the commute but we are indeed pissing away gasoline by the hundreds of barrels just to look cool.
Want to look cool? Spend that money on a Passat or a 3 series BMW. I'd bet you'd have so much fun driving teh thing you wouldn't worry about the size - and you won't tip over, either!
http://public.wsj.com/sn/y/SB98802770984332256.html
"Billion" and triple digit "million" numbers are floating around.
-m
As far a odd-even rationing doing anything, don't count on it. This is a gimick like the great american gasout, you are not reducing consumption, just moving purchases around. Not to mention a meddlesome law - I wanna buy gas when I want.
High gas prices *do* reduce consumption. They work. They make people conserve. Which is why people hate them, what people really want is "feel good" laws that make "the other guy" cut down.
In the paper yesterday (AZ republic) there was an article about a contracter who drove a chevy suburban 100 miles a day - he said that he was thinking of getting something with better mileage now that prices were higher(eureka!). Go to my place of work and you will see many people drive full size 4wd trucks to work. There is nothing sacred about out current level of consumption, sometimes the economy has to adapt.
No I don't want to tell people what to drive. Just don't complain, live with your choice.
Imagine you have a gas station, and there is a line forming. You realize that your station will run out of gas. Why not raise the price?, you'd be stupid not to. To use the house analogy, you put your house for sale for 100k, the next morning there are 200 people camped on the lawn waving deposits. Don't know about you, but I would consider raising the price. Greed is like gravity, it works, you can always count on it.
If a line *does* form somewhere, and does not go away day after day, let me know. I will form a group of protesters and go try and get the owner to raise prices to a more reasonable level, that is until there is no line. I can't stand irrational economic practices.
Every time gas prices go up, people yell and scream and charge unfair practices. Politicians have to make noise to win support, they can't tell the truth, they would be voted out of office. But nothing ever happens. Review posts fom the last 4 price spikes, they start to sound the same.
My final comment: Why not another great american gas out? The last one was soooo successful gas prices went down to 30 cents a gallon. NOT.
jOr we could just burn less gas. Just a thought.
Andrew
I am sorry that these facts don't fit into your theory.
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Ya can't go back....
Case in point - last Thursday night, unleaded regular at my (former) usual station was $1.59. Friday morning, the price was $1.63. That afternoon the price was back down to $1.59. How is this so? To me, the $1.63 was nothing more than that station gouging the customer. No high priced gas was delivered Thursday night, nor was any "low priced" gas delivered Friday afternoon. Maybe they wanted to be the "leader" for raising prices in the neighborhood. Other stations, to their credit, didn't follow, so they brought the price back down. But they lost my business with that move.
Tesoro is still conducting five-day "specials" on a rotating basis. Last week, it was $1.799 for any grade. The lines spilled out on the streets almost round-the-clock, particularly for those with gas-guzzling SUVs, limousines, and taxis. Locations on major thoroughfares cause traffic hazards during these promotions. Tesoro should re-think their strategy.
$1.399 for 87
$1.469 for 89
$1.539 for 93
I've seen regular range from anywhere 1.93 to 2.15 in and around Sillycorn (Silicon) Valley.
I wish I could tell you what cities, but I have no idea where I am when I see these places.
n'joy!
-m
Same day, other side of the Bay, regular 87 Chevron $1.79 9/10.
Next day, Gardena, CA (near LAX), regular 87 Chevron $1.63 9/10.
Don't you wish we could mandate a loss of the whole nine tenths thing?
http://www.bram.net/download/gasprices.jpg