Just got back from a Carolinas drive (Charlotte-Asheville-Spartanburg-Durham-Winston-Salem-Charlotte). Seems like 90%+ were driving 65-70, with no difference between trucks and cars. So much for high diesel prices affecting semis' speeds. Got 28 mpg in the rental Impala, not bad.
We're all over the map in here - is everyone on summer vacation or what?
I have a LOT to say about red light cameras, Big Brother watching me but so long as it's in a public place and I'm not breaking the law I don't care, etc. However, I'll try to keep it semi on topic.
RUG has slipped back down to $3.89 today.
Also, I've ridden my bicycle at nearly 3x the 20 mph speed while descending a mountain pass that would qualify it as a moped. I hope they don't make me get a license for it.
Speaking of bikes, I wonder how the red light cameras would work for a bicycle? I know of a couple going up in my area in the next month or two - maybe I'll test them out.
Several posts about new hydrogen cars...I'll believe it when I see it. As for the hydrogen used in refining oil - how does one propose to get it to all those nice new H2 stations? No pipelines, no trucks, so what? And the cost estimate for distribution is far more than the price of a bunch of H2 stations - that's the easy part. Again, how to get it there? All new pipes, from the non-existent generation points? And why go through all that trouble, just to have an expensive way to generate the electricity to run the electric motors? Skip it all, run the electricity from all the new nukes to EVs, it'd be much cheaper. Want a gas-fueled car? Go with CNG, again, the distribution system's already here.
ps - my brother in SC said some of the used car lots had "No SUVs/Pickups wanted" signs out. :sick:
One problem with them though, is that a myth started circulating that if you pull up to a red light with one of those cameras and start flashing your high beams, the light will change quicker.
Thats a different system at traffic lights. There is another sensor that detects a flashing white light that emergency vehicles use and it will immediately change the light to green for the direction that the emergency vehicle is coming from, all other directions get red. It is believed that flashing your lights activates this but it does not.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Here are studies that contradict your theory of red light cameras reducing crashes.
Its not a theory it is actual facts in the town I live in. Traffic accidents from red light running has dropped to nothing and rear end collisions have dropped to.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Big Brother is a computer that activates the flash and the shutter when you run the red. No minimum-wage slob is watching you sit there and pick your nose and scratch your ... . Around here, the City is crawfishing on the cameras they already have in place. It seems there needs to be enough "violations" a day to "pay" for the leased cameras. Those numbers have decreased since the cameras were installed last July to the point of "unprofitability". Despite the fact or pretense that the cameras were installed to promote "safety", the "revenue" factor has reared it's ugly head. There have been calls to turn the camers off, or to relocate them. Cooler heads have prevailed for now, since the cameras will remain in place and continue to keep the violations to a minimum. Now there ARE cameras downtown like those in England that are capable of being aimed and have definitely helped in the battle of urban crime. Those are NOT red light cameras however.
Title of a story in MarketWatch today. Four energy analysts testifying before the house energy and commerce committee say that oil would fall to it's marginal value of $65 to 75 a bbl. Personally I agree with the last analyst Neal Ryan that you need more than a new or expanded regulatory authority which simply costs tax payers and is easily outwitted. The "must be able to receive physical delivery " is that little bit more.
he is the featured entertainer for family weekend next september. last year was bill engval(?) it would be great if he arrived in one of his duesenbergs. :P
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
according to the article "Based on supply and demand fundamentals, crude-oil prices should not be above $60 per barrel."
I don't agree with such a view. If some oil consumers / Hedgers still accept to purchase oil with a barrel at $140, it means it is the real market. It is not an easy to defer purchase and I think the price just went out of US hands simply because other big players are buying. I am not convinced regulating would help ease price, unless the US govt is looking forward to pour money in.
Read a French interview of the OPEC Chair. He estimates a 150-170 USD per barrel price for this summer. This means $140 is still cheap...
going to put 1500 miles or so on the explorer in the next week. inspired by indiana jones, i dug out a cash rebate card from behind a built in cabinet. i went through the wall on the other side. 80 bucks! i checked it online, it is still active. enough to fill the tank, if it has around a quarter tank left, or so.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Has anyone here ever tried renting a more efficient car (instead of using a gas guzzler) for road trips? I'm traveling to my parents' house in a few weeks, and wondered if it would pay off to rent a hybrid instead of using our 12-mpg QX56. We usually travel with 5 and dog, but this time only 4 are going, and we plan to pack lightly. My main questions are, could 4 people comfortably travel 700 miles in a compact car and, how much would I save in gas traveling 1400 miles roundtrip in a Civic/Prius hybrid?
Raising steel prices will kill the automotive market and construction industries. Surely the US can keep the steel costs low here to compensate by relying on US steel firms?? Maybe build more steel mills, or import iron ore from Canada? One more nail in the coffin. This is not good. People will just not be able to afford a car at some point. Either they will not be able to afford the car itself or combination of up front cost plus the fuel/energy it will take to run it (gas prices) and/or maintain it (new $4000 lithium ion battery every four years with the electric car). What next, start building frames of cars out of other materials such as plastic,wood or cardboard?? Great. This is a sign of the times, things will get very hard.
My friend rents a car whenever he leaves his town. He wants to keep miles off his '02 Accord. I don't think you can rent a hybrid. A G6 would be a tight for 5 and get close to 30 mpg. For every $100 the QX consumes, the G6 would use $40. My friend got a G6 using priceline for $22.50 a day incl taxes. That was last weekend in Seattle.
"Read a French interview of the OPEC Chair. He estimates a 150-170 USD per barrel price for this summer. This means $140 is still cheap."
Yes, that comment came from Libya( our recently new friends) and served to spur the oil market and encourage a stock market sell off today. Not sure if that came from the OPEC chair but I'll check on that. You forgot to mention that in the same interview he suggested that Libya might reduce production because there is Too much supply in the market. So Boone's $150, Libya's $170 or Goldman's $200 is so far above reality that it doesn't matter unless you wan't to believe that 100% increases in price within one year are not too excessive. Checking facts, too much supply but prices will rise. Who on earth could be to blame? Regulating without teeth will not help. In that I agree. Somehow you think the hedgers are smart and in that I will defer. Though Long Term Capital Management blew up in '97 and a portfolio manager cowboy who bet wrong on natural gas 1 year after katrina(7 billion) and I lost count of the leveraged subprime hedges who blew up in '07-'08.I concede that short term with no viable intervention speculators can achieve a self fulfilling prophecy but without intervention a decline in oil prices will still occur as the world is put into a global recession. I apologise if I've come down too hard on you. I value your opinion. But as Bob Dylan said, and I hope it translates adequately into Chinese, "there's a hard rain gonna fall."
Yes, I have relented. Hydrogen cars bad, electric cars good. Both will be costly to maintain. Lets go one step further and switch to golf carts.
CNG (compressed natural gas cars) I have not heard of. What is the going price per Kg of CNG these days? If they can compare to $2.00/Kg of hydrogen (gallon equivalent) then we are in business.
My guess is, with Nissan's challenge to have an electric car by 2010, that will signal GM, Ford and Chrysler to move their butts on electric car production asap. And hopefully Maxwell Technologies will come out of the woodwork and innovate EV technology sooner rather than later using a super Ultracapacitor to leapfrog the technology at least to make those batteries last longer-I am tired of hearing that those Lithium ion batteries will die after 4 years of use, they are $4000 each to replace!
"I am tired of hearing that those Lithium ion batteries will die after 4 years of use, they are $4000 each to replace! "
That's one advantage of having the car handle the charging (on a hybrid) or the very sophisticated charger (for an EV or PHEV) is that it'll take a lot more variables into account (temperature, rate of charge, age of cells, whatever) compared to me plugging in my laptop or cell phone. The hybrids do that now, Prius gets very long life from theirs.
As for CNG, check out the Edmunds blog on their long term Honda Civic GX. Home fueling station, decent economy, but average performance.
It is true that Libya plans to reduce oil production. If I was head of an Opec Country, I would advocate the same move. Why would i push prices down, whereas I can easily increase my country revenues by tightening production a bit more?
Too much supply is a relative concept. If they plan for oil prices to shoot past the $200 mark, yes we can consider that there is still too much supply.
>So Boone's $150, Libya's $170 or Goldman's $200 is so far above reality that it doesn't matter unless you wan't to believe that 100% increases in price within one year are not too excessive.Somehow you think the hedgers are smart and in that I will defer.
I did not express my view correctly. I meant that hedgers can not delay their purchase any longer than their cash and oil stocks will allow. We could blame the speculators if it was a temporary burst, but the sustained trend show that oil consumers end up paying the current prices. The doubling of Barrel price in one year did not significatly lower world demand.
What kind of intervention do you propose? There is still one ongoing in Iraq and it costed the taxpayer a few years of Federal budget.
I maintain my prediction of $250 a barrel within 30 months. I enjoy current cheap gas because it just won't last.
>I apologise if I've come down too hard on you.
No offense taken. Your opinion, although different, is no less valuable than mine. I apologise in return if you feel my views are a bit extreme.
one of those huge corporate places, has been advertising all week about a sale this weekend, during which they will "buy any and all trades, even that gas PIIIIIG (that's just the way they say it in the ad, kind of like in Deliverance) you're driving now!"
I guess they're not averse to taking SUVs in trade, but I'm sure what they give you for one is going to be rock bottom and then some...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
>If some oil consumers / Hedgers still accept to purchase oil with a barrel at $140, it means it is the real market.
If someone is operating in a market strictly for manufacturing a profit for themselves on oil futures, then that is an artificial market. A banker told me about 8 weeks ago that there were 17 times as many contracts being circulated by the speculators as there is oil to be delivered. Top that with most of the people buying couldn't take delivery of the oil if they end up with the contract at the due date.
Through the years the financial people have thought up ways of gaming the market to make things they can buy and sell to speculate and profit. The financial markets in US have used many and various ways to benefit themselves; to wit the collapse of the brokerage house a few weeks ago at the expense of the taxpayer and all the mortgage companies selling mortgages to people who had no hope of paying th mortgage to its end so the mortgage house itself could profit. Now the public opinion expects the taxpayers in US to pay the cost and loss.
Through the years the savings and loan debacle was an example of excess and lack of control in financial markets. Marvin Warner is one example of the winner who profited. I believe he left Ohio and retired in Florida where bankruptcy law can't touch the large, expensive, comfortable estate he held there.
Read up on tulip bulbs to see more examples of excess in speculation.
Oh, for blame for the lack of control, I blame Congress with its petty politics through the last 15 years or so, I blame the presidents, and I blame the US people who always have a crying rag out about this group isn't being given something that other people have. I'm currently waiting for someone to suggest that "poor" people are being discriminated against by the high gas/oil prices and we should "give" them some way of obtained free gas.
Instead of high-performance, will we be instead singing about fuel efficiency?
Sung to the tune of "Grease Lightnin'"
Well this car is sensible, it's economical, it's environmental... Why, it's green lightnin'!
We'll get some lithium ion batteries and a hybrid synergy drive Keep talkin', whoa keep talkin' CVT transmission and regenerative brakes, oh yeah I'll save some money, It'll see we save some money A four-cylinder under the hood charges the cells really good I might look like a dip, but I'll be savin' lot of scrip in green lightnin'
Go, green lightnin', burnin' less than a quarter tank Green lightnin', go green lightnin' Go, green lightnin', I'm laughin' all the way to the bank Green lightnin', go green lightnin' You are supreme, the hippie chicks'll scream for green lightnin'
We'll get some low-rolling resistance tires and EV stealth mode, oh yeah Two electric generators and an 1NZ-FXE engine, oh yeah With an Atkinson cycle, gets more miles than a motorcycle You know that I ain't braggin', .26 coefficient of draggin'- green lightnin'
Speaking of bikes, I wonder how the red light cameras would work for a bicycle? I know of a couple going up in my area in the next month or two - maybe I'll test them out.
I wonder if a bicycle would even be big enough to trigger a red light camera? Can they catch a motorcycle running a red light, I wonder? Anyway, the cameras are automated to go off when they detect a vehicle entering the intersection after the light has turned red. Then they take another picture a set amount of time later, which I'm sure can be adjusted depending on the typical speed of that road.
If you were able to set off the camera and make it take a picture, then it would just take a pic of you entering the intersection, but then, since you probably aren't blowing through it as fast as a car would, the second pic would probably just show the back of your bike, not all the way through the intersection yet.
I set off a red light camera about 6 years ago. I was on US3 in Maryland, and they had one in place that was fairly new. It was raining and the road was slick. When I saw the light turn yellow I panicked a bit when I saw it and hit the brakes too hard, causing me to slide just far enough into the intersection to set off the camera. It took a pic as I entered the intersection, and then flashed again a brief moment later. The second picture is the one that they zoom in on to get your license plate, but I don't think the first picture will show it. Or at least, I never got a ticket for that one.
Speaking of bikes, I wonder how the red light cameras would work for a bicycle? I know of a couple going up in my area in the next month or two - maybe I'll test them out.
I wonder if a bicycle would even be big enough to trigger a red light camera? Can they catch a motorcycle running a red light, I wonder? Anyway, the cameras are automated to go off when they detect a vehicle entering the intersection after the light has turned red. Then they take another picture a set amount of time later, which I'm sure can be adjusted depending on the typical speed of that road.
If you were able to set off the camera and make it take a picture, then it would just take a pic of you entering the intersection, but then, since you probably aren't blowing through it as fast as a car would, the second pic would probably just show the back of your bike, not all the way through the intersection yet.
I set off a red light camera about 6 years ago. I was on US3 in Maryland, and they had one in place that was fairly new. It was raining and the road was slick. When I saw the light turn yellow I panicked a bit when I saw it and hit the brakes too hard, causing me to slide just far enough into the intersection to set off the camera. It took a pic as I entered the intersection, and then flashed again a brief moment later. The second picture is the one that they zoom in on to get your license plate, but I don't think the first picture will show it. Or at least, I never got a ticket for that one.
I've also heard that if you put the tailgate down on a pickup truck, the camera won't get your license plate. I'm not about to test that theory with mine, though. :P And I guess if you have one of those older cars that has the fuel filler behind the license plate, you can just "play dumb" and wedge the plate open so that the camera can't catch it. If a cop sees you driving around, he might just pull you over and tell you you forgot to put your gas cap back on, rather than actually do anything nasty to you, but you never know. Plus, I guess you also run the risk of losing your gas cap, and you're letting the fumes escape.
So in the long run, probably best to just obey the law and not run those things. And then go back to the offending intersection in the middle of the night and throw a blanket over the lens. :shades:
Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon. Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon. Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon.
Now that I have you convinced that all is well, I should mention my recent trip through western ND was interesting. Besides burning 20+ gallons of RUG, I saw lots and lots of oil activity. Oil rigs were all over. Hotels were full of oil workers. A local county courthouse had people with laptop computers lined up in the halls and stuffed in conference rooms. They are actually called landman, who's job is to research mineral rights.
Semi truck traffic was heavy. There were trucks carrying huge oil tanks. There were trucks carrying drill rigs and fracturing equipment. There were trucks carrying water and trucks carrying oil to pipeline terminals from the grasshoppers.
All this activity has our oil output up to 150,000 barrels a day.
Our budget surplus is predicted to be $740 million! To put that in perspective, that would be like California having a $55 billion dollar surplus or the entire U.S. with a $350 billion dollar surplus. I suspect some of that will need to go back to local governments to pay for higher fuels costs, however. Still, this state is certainly riding the wave, and I would like to thank all of you for buying tons of gasoline and diesel.
the collapse of the brokerage house a few weeks ago at the expense of the taxpayer
You make a good point. If commodity broker "A" buys a billion barrels for August delivery at $150 and the market drops to $75. Will they be looking to US the tax payers to bail out their $75 billion mistake? How is that any different than the mortgage companies getting stuck with a $30 billion in default mortgages that are backed by homes now only worth $15 billion? Should the government bail anyone out of their own bad gamble?
I've heard of polarized license plate covers that won't let the plate be seen from an angle -- only from directly behind.
Yeah, I think the main manufacturer of them is Fresnel, or something like that, but there are knockoffs as well. They're supposedly illegal in Maryland, and many other states, but it doesn't stop people from putting them on.
I've also heard of some kind of spray you can put on your license plate that's supposed to have the same effect.
I would like to thank all of you for buying tons of gasoline and diesel.
You are more than welcome. Anything to help America get stronger.
You are seeing the fruits of $140 oil as is TX, LA, OK, AK & Canada. If the price stays high it will continue. If you have a strong conservative state legislature, they will put a percentage of that surplus in an account that THEY cannot extract from. Alaska has what is called the Permanent Fund. Each year every man, woman and child resident gets a check from the profits in that fund. Last year I think it was $1650. Hopefully ND will eliminate your state income tax if they have not done so already.
ND is not that far from Michigan. All those out of work UAW guys should be headed over to get a good job. My last 25 years of employment was in the oilfield and it was good.
There is one really good point that is made and it is pretty much irrefutable. These speculators have no intention of taking delivery. Whatever they buy they must sell. While they add to the number of people trying to buy oil, which would drive prices higher they also add to the number of people selling oil, which will have the opposite effect.
luckily due to the numbers you've posted the math is easy
12 mpg QX56 48 mpg Prius or HCH
No matter what the price of fuel is in your area you will cut your fuel cost by about 75%. When you factor in the cost of a rental fee for say a week then then it looks to be breakeven.
Apparently, oil speculators are getting a bum rap and are NOT the cause of the oil price spike now, according to those in the know (i.e. NOT the Politicians)
Just as I thought - it's not possible to "by yourself" manipulate the oil price market. It takes a bunch of factors, and almost none of them can be controlled by a single entity.
To emphasize my point: If it could be manually manipulated HIGHER, then why are prices not $5000 a barrel? There are people who are rich enough and power-hungry enough and money-hungry enough to make it happen if it were possible.
The problem with your analysis is that you don't account for the end of the chain....you and me. As long as you and I and all the rest here continue to press the 'YES' button when we go to the pump then all the intermediaries and speculators are vindicated that their multiple risks were all worth it.
When we press the pump button we are stating that for each of us this price is a fair market price. No one has a gun to our head forcing us to pump. We could always walk, ride a bike, carpool, take mass transit or just stay at home. We all voluntarily acknowledge that the prices are 'correct' when we give them our money, we exchange one measure of value for another one; i.e. $100 for 25 gal of fuel.
That's basic economics. Until we all do something really dramatic like cut our usages 20% or more then there is no signal being sent to the oil players that the 'jig is up'. However every day now we just send signals to them that all is well and we're just venting but not doing much at all.
I'm sure that the drop off in SUV and truck sales and the sudden surge in small car sales has gotten the attention of all the players in the oil industry. It certainly has the attention of the vehicle makers. But 2 months of consumer angst is a minor blip, it'll have little or no effect. However 2 years of continued purchases of more fuel efficient vehicles will have a dramatic effect.
I'm all for letting the market sort things out. If $4 doesn't hurt you too much then just 'Keep on Truckin' ( to borrow a pharse ). If $5 is the 'tipping' point for everyone in the NA market then that's when prices will level off or start to retreat as we all drive more efficient vehicles.
Just as I thought - it's not possible to "by yourself" manipulate the oil price market. It takes a bunch of factors, and almost none of them can be controlled by a single entity.
I can't agree more. From your first link in the Fortune article the question is asked rhetorically of some grandstanding Congressperson,
Here's a suggestion: The next time a Congressional committee wants to hold a hearing on how "speculators" are driving up oil prices, each committee member should first be required to demonstrate - preferably in their opening remarks - a basic understanding of the mechanics of futures trading.
Even better, they should be required to explain in detail how it is that investors who never take delivery of a single barrel of crude - and thus never remove a drop of oil from the open market - are causing record high oil prices.
They don't cause higher prices......WE DO! If we didn't buy the fuel at the pump then they'd be stuck with these contracts and they'd go broke.
"Just as I thought - it's not possible to "by yourself" manipulate the oil price market. It takes a bunch of factors, and almost none of them can be controlled by a single entity."
Agreed - you could ask it a different way: If such manipulation was possible, why did the oil markets (that had futures trading for years) go through decades of low prices? Did they suddenly wake up and realize they could do this? Don't think so! The presence of skyrocketing third world consumption, potential limits to production, the halving of the Dollar relative to the Euro, and war in the middle of the world's oil resource are much greater factors. That said, I'd have no problem believing that maybe $10/bbl of the current price is trade-induced. Those that claim oil would drop to $60/bbl if trading issues were eliminated, however, are nuts! Oil would be $60/bbl just because of the dropping dollar, ignoring all the other issues mentioned above.
Just as I thought - it's not possible to "by yourself" manipulate the oil price market. It takes a bunch of factors, and almost none of them can be controlled by a single entity.
Just because you think something does not make it so. Your articles were decrying Congress trying to rein in the speculators. I agree that is nearly impossible. I agree that Congress is filled with clowns and they are there to put on a circus show.
Those articles do not say that it is impossible for a person or persons to manipulate a market. I gave you a prime example of that when oil first crossed the $100 mark. We have examples all through our history of individuals and groups of individuals manipulating every commodity known to man. You are trying to tell this group that John D. Rockefeller did not manipulate the oil market. Just what is to stop a very large hedge fund with NO oversight in the US from doing the same thing. Both up and down. All through the 1990s the demand was going up for oil and the price was falling. How would you spin that?
All through the 1990s the demand was going up for oil and the price was falling. How would you spin that?
Because even with this growing demand there was an abundance of supply, actually a glut of oil on the market. That's no longer the case. And has been pointed out numerous times if people or groups can artificially inflate oil prices for their own gain why weren't they doing it then? Is this some new trick they learned.
As far as Rockefeller manipulating the oil market I'm sure he probably did but it wasn't by trading futures. I don't know the specifics but he probably had some control over the supply of oil and was able to collude with other oil producers in much the same way as OPEC does. Futures traders have no direct control over the supply.
Comments
LOLOL
I have no idea, but I wouldn't want to - all the heavy metals from the bearings, wierd aditives, etc, makes me want to avoid that kind of fuel.
The Funny Side of Soaring Fuel Prices (Green Car Advisor)
I have a LOT to say about red light cameras, Big Brother watching me but so long as it's in a public place and I'm not breaking the law I don't care, etc. However, I'll try to keep it semi on topic.
RUG has slipped back down to $3.89 today.
Also, I've ridden my bicycle at nearly 3x the 20 mph speed while descending a mountain pass that would qualify it as a moped. I hope they don't make me get a license for it.
Speaking of bikes, I wonder how the red light cameras would work for a bicycle? I know of a couple going up in my area in the next month or two - maybe I'll test them out.
ps - my brother in SC said some of the used car lots had "No SUVs/Pickups wanted" signs out. :sick:
When I worked for a local village we were looking into them and the deal we were working on were a flat fee charges, the village got the lionshare.
It seems like every red light around here has cameras hanging off of them. I don't know if they are for ticketing or just to record what goes on.
I think in most cases those are just sensors that detect oncoming traffic and can adjust the light sequence accordingly.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Thats a different system at traffic lights. There is another sensor that detects a flashing white light that emergency vehicles use and it will immediately change the light to green for the direction that the emergency vehicle is coming from, all other directions get red. It is believed that flashing your lights activates this but it does not.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Its not a theory it is actual facts in the town I live in. Traffic accidents from red light running has dropped to nothing and rear end collisions have dropped to.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Now the big question is if your bike isn't electric and you are doing 28 by pedal power alone can you still be ticketed?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Around here, the City is crawfishing on the cameras they already have in place.
It seems there needs to be enough "violations" a day to "pay" for the leased cameras. Those numbers have decreased since the cameras were installed last July to the point of "unprofitability".
Despite the fact or pretense that the cameras were installed to promote "safety", the "revenue" factor has reared it's ugly head. There have been calls to turn the camers off, or to relocate them.
Cooler heads have prevailed for now, since the cameras will remain in place and continue to keep the violations to a minimum.
Now there ARE cameras downtown like those in England that are capable of being aimed and have definitely helped in the battle of urban crime. Those are NOT red light cameras however.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gas-could-fall-2-if/story.aspx?guid=%7b267- 3C102-68E0-41D9-9C9A-10EE2E723948%7d&dist=MostReadHome&print=true&dist=printMidS- ection
I don't agree with such a view. If some oil consumers / Hedgers still accept to purchase oil with a barrel at $140, it means it is the real market.
It is not an easy to defer purchase and I think the price just went out of US hands simply because other big players are buying. I am not convinced regulating would help ease price, unless the US govt is looking forward to pour money in.
Read a French interview of the OPEC Chair. He estimates a 150-170 USD per barrel price for this summer. This means $140 is still cheap...
One more nail in the coffin. This is not good.
People will just not be able to afford a car at some point. Either they will not be able to afford the car itself or combination of up front cost plus the fuel/energy it will take to run it (gas prices) and/or maintain it (new $4000 lithium ion battery every four years with the electric car).
What next, start building frames of cars out of other materials such as plastic,wood or cardboard?? Great.
This is a sign of the times, things will get very hard.
Yes, that comment came from Libya( our recently new friends) and served to spur the oil market and encourage a stock market sell off today. Not sure if that came from the OPEC chair but I'll check on that.
You forgot to mention that in the same interview he suggested that Libya might reduce production because there is Too much supply in the market. So Boone's $150, Libya's $170 or Goldman's $200 is so far above reality that it doesn't matter unless you wan't to believe that 100% increases in price within one year are not too excessive. Checking facts, too much supply but prices will rise. Who on earth could be to blame? Regulating without teeth will not help. In that I agree. Somehow you think the hedgers are smart and in that I will defer. Though Long Term Capital Management blew up in '97 and a portfolio manager cowboy who bet wrong on natural gas 1 year after katrina(7 billion) and I lost count of the leveraged subprime hedges who blew up in '07-'08.I concede that short term with no viable intervention speculators can achieve a self fulfilling prophecy but without intervention a decline in oil prices will still occur as the world is put into a global recession. I apologise if I've come down too hard on you. I value your opinion.
But as Bob Dylan said, and I hope it translates adequately into Chinese, "there's a hard rain gonna fall."
Yes, my brother just rented a Prius for the last week. He got 45 mpg. You need to check with the different rental companies at your location.
CNG (compressed natural gas cars) I have not heard of. What is the going price per Kg of CNG these days? If they can compare to $2.00/Kg of hydrogen (gallon equivalent) then we are in business.
My guess is, with Nissan's challenge to have an electric car by 2010, that will signal GM, Ford and Chrysler to move their butts on electric car production asap.
And hopefully Maxwell Technologies will come out of the woodwork and innovate EV technology sooner rather than later using a super Ultracapacitor to leapfrog the technology at least to make those batteries last longer-I am tired of hearing that those Lithium ion batteries will die after 4 years of use, they are $4000 each to replace!
That's one advantage of having the car handle the charging (on a hybrid) or the very sophisticated charger (for an EV or PHEV) is that it'll take a lot more variables into account (temperature, rate of charge, age of cells, whatever) compared to me plugging in my laptop or cell phone. The hybrids do that now, Prius gets very long life from theirs.
As for CNG, check out the Edmunds blog on their long term Honda Civic GX. Home fueling station, decent economy, but average performance.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/matieres-premieres/2008/06/26/04012-20080626ARTFIG00541-l- -opep-prevoit-un-baril-entre-et-dollars-cet-ete.php
It is true that Libya plans to reduce oil production. If I was head of an Opec Country, I would advocate the same move. Why would i push prices down, whereas I can easily increase my country revenues by tightening production a bit more?
Too much supply is a relative concept. If they plan for oil prices to shoot past the $200 mark, yes we can consider that there is still too much supply.
>So Boone's $150, Libya's $170 or Goldman's $200 is so far above reality that it doesn't matter unless you wan't to believe that 100% increases in price within one year are not too excessive.Somehow you think the hedgers are smart and in that I will defer.
I did not express my view correctly. I meant that hedgers can not delay their purchase any longer than their cash and oil stocks will allow.
We could blame the speculators if it was a temporary burst, but the sustained trend show that oil consumers end up paying the current prices. The doubling of Barrel price in one year did not significatly lower world demand.
What kind of intervention do you propose?
There is still one ongoing in Iraq and it costed the taxpayer a few years of Federal budget.
I maintain my prediction of $250 a barrel within 30 months. I enjoy current cheap gas because it just won't last.
>I apologise if I've come down too hard on you.
No offense taken. Your opinion, although different, is no less valuable than mine. I apologise in return if you feel my views are a bit extreme.
I guess they're not averse to taking SUVs in trade, but I'm sure what they give you for one is going to be rock bottom and then some...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant
Of course that two-stroke smoker engine won't get past the eco-weenies! :lemon:
If someone is operating in a market strictly for manufacturing a profit for themselves on oil futures, then that is an artificial market. A banker told me about 8 weeks ago that there were 17 times as many contracts being circulated by the speculators as there is oil to be delivered. Top that with most of the people buying couldn't take delivery of the oil if they end up with the contract at the due date.
Through the years the financial people have thought up ways of gaming the market to make things they can buy and sell to speculate and profit. The financial markets in US have used many and various ways to benefit themselves; to wit the collapse of the brokerage house a few weeks ago at the expense of the taxpayer and all the mortgage companies selling mortgages to people who had no hope of paying th mortgage to its end so the mortgage house itself could profit. Now the public opinion expects the taxpayers in US to pay the cost and loss.
Through the years the savings and loan debacle was an example of excess and lack of control in financial markets. Marvin Warner is one example of the winner who profited. I believe he left Ohio and retired in Florida where bankruptcy law can't touch the large, expensive, comfortable estate he held there.
Read up on tulip bulbs to see more examples of excess in speculation.
Oh, for blame for the lack of control, I blame Congress with its petty politics through the last 15 years or so, I blame the presidents, and I blame the US people who always have a crying rag out about this group isn't being given something that other people have. I'm currently waiting for someone to suggest that "poor" people are being discriminated against by the high gas/oil prices and we should "give" them some way of obtained free gas.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Sung to the tune of "Grease Lightnin'"
Well this car is sensible, it's economical, it's environmental...
Why, it's green lightnin'!
We'll get some lithium ion batteries and a hybrid synergy drive
Keep talkin', whoa keep talkin'
CVT transmission and regenerative brakes, oh yeah
I'll save some money, It'll see we save some money
A four-cylinder under the hood charges the cells really good
I might look like a dip, but I'll be savin' lot of scrip in green lightnin'
Go, green lightnin', burnin' less than a quarter tank
Green lightnin', go green lightnin'
Go, green lightnin', I'm laughin' all the way to the bank
Green lightnin', go green lightnin'
You are supreme, the hippie chicks'll scream for green lightnin'
We'll get some low-rolling resistance tires and EV stealth mode, oh yeah
Two electric generators and an 1NZ-FXE engine, oh yeah
With an Atkinson cycle, gets more miles than a motorcycle
You know that I ain't braggin', .26 coefficient of draggin'- green lightnin'
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080627_Big_Oil_pockets_Iraq.html
I wonder if a bicycle would even be big enough to trigger a red light camera? Can they catch a motorcycle running a red light, I wonder? Anyway, the cameras are automated to go off when they detect a vehicle entering the intersection after the light has turned red. Then they take another picture a set amount of time later, which I'm sure can be adjusted depending on the typical speed of that road.
If you were able to set off the camera and make it take a picture, then it would just take a pic of you entering the intersection, but then, since you probably aren't blowing through it as fast as a car would, the second pic would probably just show the back of your bike, not all the way through the intersection yet.
I set off a red light camera about 6 years ago. I was on US3 in Maryland, and they had one in place that was fairly new. It was raining and the road was slick. When I saw the light turn yellow I panicked a bit when I saw it and hit the brakes too hard, causing me to slide just far enough into the intersection to set off the camera. It took a pic as I entered the intersection, and then flashed again a brief moment later. The second picture is the one that they zoom in on to get your license plate, but I don't think the first picture will show it. Or at least, I never got a ticket for that one.
I wonder if a bicycle would even be big enough to trigger a red light camera? Can they catch a motorcycle running a red light, I wonder? Anyway, the cameras are automated to go off when they detect a vehicle entering the intersection after the light has turned red. Then they take another picture a set amount of time later, which I'm sure can be adjusted depending on the typical speed of that road.
If you were able to set off the camera and make it take a picture, then it would just take a pic of you entering the intersection, but then, since you probably aren't blowing through it as fast as a car would, the second pic would probably just show the back of your bike, not all the way through the intersection yet.
I set off a red light camera about 6 years ago. I was on US3 in Maryland, and they had one in place that was fairly new. It was raining and the road was slick. When I saw the light turn yellow I panicked a bit when I saw it and hit the brakes too hard, causing me to slide just far enough into the intersection to set off the camera. It took a pic as I entered the intersection, and then flashed again a brief moment later. The second picture is the one that they zoom in on to get your license plate, but I don't think the first picture will show it. Or at least, I never got a ticket for that one.
I've also heard that if you put the tailgate down on a pickup truck, the camera won't get your license plate. I'm not about to test that theory with mine, though. :P And I guess if you have one of those older cars that has the fuel filler behind the license plate, you can just "play dumb" and wedge the plate open so that the camera can't catch it. If a cop sees you driving around, he might just pull you over and tell you you forgot to put your gas cap back on, rather than actually do anything nasty to you, but you never know. Plus, I guess you also run the risk of losing your gas cap, and you're letting the fumes escape.
So in the long run, probably best to just obey the law and not run those things. And then go back to the offending intersection in the middle of the night and throw a blanket over the lens. :shades:
http://www.rockinthebakken.com/ Just watch out for the mosquitoes.
Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon.
Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon.
Gasoline prices will soon be less than $1.00 a gallon.
Now that I have you convinced that all is well, I should mention my recent trip through western ND was interesting. Besides burning 20+ gallons of RUG, I saw lots and lots of oil activity. Oil rigs were all over. Hotels were full of oil workers. A local county courthouse had people with laptop computers lined up in the halls and stuffed in conference rooms. They are actually called landman, who's job is to research mineral rights.
Semi truck traffic was heavy. There were trucks carrying huge oil tanks. There were trucks carrying drill rigs and fracturing equipment. There were trucks carrying water and trucks carrying oil to pipeline terminals from the grasshoppers.
All this activity has our oil output up to 150,000 barrels a day.
Our budget surplus is predicted to be $740 million! To put that in perspective, that would be like California having a $55 billion dollar surplus or the entire U.S. with a $350 billion dollar surplus. I suspect some of that will need to go back to local governments to pay for higher fuels costs, however. Still, this state is certainly riding the wave, and I would like to thank all of you for buying tons of gasoline and diesel.
You make a good point.
If commodity broker "A" buys a billion barrels for August delivery at $150 and the market drops to $75. Will they be looking to US the tax payers to bail out their $75 billion mistake? How is that any different than the mortgage companies getting stuck with a $30 billion in default mortgages that are backed by homes now only worth $15 billion? Should the government bail anyone out of their own bad gamble?
Yeah, I think the main manufacturer of them is Fresnel, or something like that, but there are knockoffs as well. They're supposedly illegal in Maryland, and many other states, but it doesn't stop people from putting them on.
I've also heard of some kind of spray you can put on your license plate that's supposed to have the same effect.
You are more than welcome. Anything to help America get stronger.
You are seeing the fruits of $140 oil as is TX, LA, OK, AK & Canada. If the price stays high it will continue. If you have a strong conservative state legislature, they will put a percentage of that surplus in an account that THEY cannot extract from. Alaska has what is called the Permanent Fund. Each year every man, woman and child resident gets a check from the profits in that fund. Last year I think it was $1650. Hopefully ND will eliminate your state income tax if they have not done so already.
ND is not that far from Michigan. All those out of work UAW guys should be headed over to get a good job. My last 25 years of employment was in the oilfield and it was good.
speculators
There is one really good point that is made and it is pretty much irrefutable. These speculators have no intention of taking delivery. Whatever they buy they must sell. While they add to the number of people trying to buy oil, which would drive prices higher they also add to the number of people selling oil, which will have the opposite effect.
12 mpg QX56
48 mpg Prius or HCH
No matter what the price of fuel is in your area you will cut your fuel cost by about 75%. When you factor in the cost of a rental fee for say a week then then it looks to be breakeven.
Link One
Link Two
Link Three
Just as I thought - it's not possible to "by yourself" manipulate the oil price market. It takes a bunch of factors, and almost none of them can be controlled by a single entity.
To emphasize my point: If it could be manually manipulated HIGHER, then why are prices not $5000 a barrel? There are people who are rich enough and power-hungry enough and money-hungry enough to make it happen if it were possible.
When we press the pump button we are stating that for each of us this price is a fair market price. No one has a gun to our head forcing us to pump. We could always walk, ride a bike, carpool, take mass transit or just stay at home. We all voluntarily acknowledge that the prices are 'correct' when we give them our money, we exchange one measure of value for another one; i.e. $100 for 25 gal of fuel.
That's basic economics. Until we all do something really dramatic like cut our usages 20% or more then there is no signal being sent to the oil players that the 'jig is up'. However every day now we just send signals to them that all is well and we're just venting but not doing much at all.
I'm sure that the drop off in SUV and truck sales and the sudden surge in small car sales has gotten the attention of all the players in the oil industry. It certainly has the attention of the vehicle makers. But 2 months of consumer angst is a minor blip, it'll have little or no effect. However 2 years of continued purchases of more fuel efficient vehicles will have a dramatic effect.
I'm all for letting the market sort things out. If $4 doesn't hurt you too much then just 'Keep on Truckin' ( to borrow a pharse ). If $5 is the 'tipping' point for everyone in the NA market then that's when prices will level off or start to retreat as we all drive more efficient vehicles.
Except, of course, SPECTRE. Are they back?
Here's a suggestion: The next time a Congressional committee wants to hold a hearing on how "speculators" are driving up oil prices, each committee member should first be required to demonstrate - preferably in their opening remarks - a basic understanding of the mechanics of futures trading.
Even better, they should be required to explain in detail how it is that investors who never take delivery of a single barrel of crude - and thus never remove a drop of oil from the open market - are causing record high oil prices.
They don't cause higher prices......WE DO! If we didn't buy the fuel at the pump then they'd be stuck with these contracts and they'd go broke.
Basic economics.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=124319
Agreed - you could ask it a different way: If such manipulation was possible, why did the oil markets (that had futures trading for years) go through decades of low prices? Did they suddenly wake up and realize they could do this? Don't think so! The presence of skyrocketing third world consumption, potential limits to production, the halving of the Dollar relative to the Euro, and war in the middle of the world's oil resource are much greater factors. That said, I'd have no problem believing that maybe $10/bbl of the current price is trade-induced. Those that claim oil would drop to $60/bbl if trading issues were eliminated, however, are nuts! Oil would be $60/bbl just because of the dropping dollar, ignoring all the other issues mentioned above.
Just because you think something does not make it so. Your articles were decrying Congress trying to rein in the speculators. I agree that is nearly impossible. I agree that Congress is filled with clowns and they are there to put on a circus show.
Those articles do not say that it is impossible for a person or persons to manipulate a market. I gave you a prime example of that when oil first crossed the $100 mark. We have examples all through our history of individuals and groups of individuals manipulating every commodity known to man. You are trying to tell this group that John D. Rockefeller did not manipulate the oil market. Just what is to stop a very large hedge fund with NO oversight in the US from doing the same thing. Both up and down. All through the 1990s the demand was going up for oil and the price was falling. How would you spin that?
Because even with this growing demand there was an abundance of supply, actually a glut of oil on the market. That's no longer the case. And has been pointed out numerous times if people or groups can artificially inflate oil prices for their own gain why weren't they doing it then? Is this some new trick they learned.
As far as Rockefeller manipulating the oil market I'm sure he probably did but it wasn't by trading futures. I don't know the specifics but he probably had some control over the supply of oil and was able to collude with other oil producers in much the same way as OPEC does. Futures traders have no direct control over the supply.