9 replies to this topic

[nimblebear]

no problemo. Prosperity as far as the eye can see. Europe has had $4 gas for years, so why can't we ? It sucks if you are used to $2 gas. Besides the politicians love the added tax revenues. City, state, Federal, they all benefit. Since our military presence no longer keeps gas prices low, it doesn't seem to make sense to pay trillions to keep it so large. The Dow is taking the increase in stride. 50% increase in prices since January. Wow ! who wouldve thunk it ? There is absolutely no recession in site, even though the yield curve has been inverted for a year. I can't figure out why short interest is so high either. Joe q. isn't shorting, but big players are. Negativity seems abundant, so the Dow should keep rising. Supposedly people won't change their habits until gas is at $4.50. Some experts tell us that. I'll believe that when I see it. Dow 15000 is going to be one heck of a short squeeze.

[JAP]

You can bank on $4.00/gal by mid-summer... 1 major hurricane will easily do the trick. No major hurricanes last summer, yet gas prices still shot up. I think $5/gal will be much more difficult for the public to handle... I predict we'll see that price sometime in 2008.

[ed rader]

You can bank on $4.00/gal by mid-summer... 1 major hurricane will easily do the trick. No major hurricanes last summer, yet gas prices still shot up.

I think $5/gal will be much more difficult for the public to handle... I predict we'll see that price sometime in 2008.

i think 4 bucks will be a bigger problem once the housing market starts tanking in earnest...unless you believe the "correction" is about over and homes sales will recover in the second half.

ed rader

[n83]

Europe has had $4 gas for years, so why can't we ?

Europeans do not drive as much..much less. Their countries and cities and towns are not as far flung as ours are.

[thespookyone]

Wow, nimble, sometimes you make it so easy. " Europe has had $4 gas for years, so why can't we ?" Well, I've done business in Europe for many years, and the answer is quite simple-they don't drive nearly as much as us. Their populations are much more city centered than ours-they can easily walk or bicycle to what they need. Their govenment-unlike ours established incredible public transportation, in the form of trains, trams, and busses-that take them where they want to go quickly-and much cheaper than by car. "no problemo. Prosperity as far as the eye can see." "There is absolutely no recession in site", Well, I guess you didn't notice the last GDP report, eh? If "prosperity like that keeps up at that level-we are going to have a fairly serious recession in 3, or 4 quarters at the most. "The Dow is taking the increase in stride. 50% increase in prices since January" so those 30 stocks did pretty well?, hmmm, that should be great consolation to US corporations, who had the lowest rate of earnings growth that the have seen in about 2.5 years-oops, maybe not. "Joe q. isn't shorting, but big players are" Well, don't worry about that one, the "big players" couldn't possibly take Joe Q,'s money-hang in there with him, the public is bulletproof to the big players, hehe. Spooky

[Rogerdodger]

The higher the gas price, the sooner we see alternatives.

I understand the total miles driven were down this winter for the first time in decades (ice?) but back up in March to record levels.
Meanwhile,no new refineries have been built in decades while miles driven surge.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007 - The Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.6 percent in March from its February level, rising after two months of decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

I wonder if this might affect costs of everything else?
Farming is heavily dependent on fuel.
So is the transportation of all things.
But don't worry. There's no inflation.

This inflation adjusted chart shows we need $3.50 gas to equal the 1918 price.
How many cars were there then?

Edited by Rogerdodger, 22 May 2007 - 09:28 PM.

[Douglas]

Roger's right. The best cure for high prices is high prices. There's a 40 some odd cent duty on ethanol from Brazil which could be dropped to lower prices. As far as huricanes, the problem isn't crude or methane from the gulf, it's the tight supply of refined products and all the wacky varieties of fuel that must be produced. With these high margins, every refiner worth his salt is trying to increase yields and rates.

[SilentOne]

nimblebear,

[/quote]no problemo. Prosperity as far as the eye can see. Europe has had $4 gas for years, so why can't we?[quote]

I mentioned in a post recently that we pay about $7.50/USG here in the UK to your $3.50 or whatever. Gas prices have remained up there despite the strong pound and easing crude prices. Much of the cost is taxes. I drive a Mitsubishi Shogun and a good fill up runs $150 US.

And don't ask what Scandinavian countries pay for gas.

cheers,

john

[Cirrus]

I'm not so sure we see $4 gas this summer. I'm beginning to think the recent price rise checked some demand in the US. We'll see in the weeks ahead. If we see $4 it may not be until this coming winter. The market may have done it's job by running up the crack spread prior to peak consumption period to ensure adequate supply.

[TechSkeptic]

I actually noticed a price drop the other day at my favorite station, from 3.339 to 3.319 (one of the lowest prices in the area). Not much of a drop, but it could indicate a short-term top is in. I think they'll stabilize about this level for the summer, unless there is a major event (hurricane, terrorist attack on oil facilities, etc.) that throw a monkey wrench in the supply.