Gas prices

[Dude]

$1.99 here. :rockin:

 

[user 574]

$1.99 here. :rockin:

Wow - I would have expected higher on the east coast. VA probably doesn't rape its citizens as much as those to the north of ya.

 

[Ize]

We WERE down to $1.97 until Tuesday. The it miraculously jumped to 2.24, now it's back down to 2.15.

Jackin' the price around is just enuf to piss you off...


Ize

 

[Saxmk6]

$2.08 in Michigan today. Pretty dam bad when I pay 2:00 for a gallon of gas and think I am getting a really great deal....

 

[user 574]

crap, I thought I was lucky

 

[the_bird]

We WERE down to $1.97 until Tuesday. The it miraculously jumped to 2.24, now it's back down to 2.15.

Jackin' the price around is just enuf to piss you off...


Ize

Crude's off its lows. Gas prices are tracking crude futures very closely (as they should). Had a real strong drop below $60, we were back around $62 - $63 as of late this afternoon.

 

[Beer Snob]

So what do you think..... was the mid 3 dollar prices justified or do you think they just charged us it.....?

 

[the_bird]

Probably justified based on the cost of the primary input (the energy market's far too big for anyone to easily manipulate, outside of what OPEC does). There's been a huge speculative premium in the price of crude, estimated at about $15 - $20 or so, which has mostly blown up (traders are going the other way). The fundamentals weren't really supporting $75 crude (and thus $3+ gas), but that's where the speculators were driving the prices, and a free market needs speculators.

 

[Truble]

With any speculation market, the prudent broker should play to the customer. In the case of fuel, when was the last time that you heard news flashes or alerts about dropping prices, or any situation that was going to ease prices? Shortage is how prices are shocked. What the consumer experiences is a gradual shock and stabilization repeated over time that inflates prices. The goal is to achieve a new status quo plateau of what consumers will accept. The evidence for this is clear. How many of us were outraged when prices went up from 1.9 to 2 to 2.5 to 2.8 to 30. to even 3.3???? Then when the prices fall to 2.4 or 2.5, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Bear in mind that this had happened in less than a calendar year. The effective peak rate increase was ~74%, and the stabilization rate was an increase of 32%. If you price shock even every 5 years, the low end is still an annual increase of ~6%, which is far above inflation and CPI. Given that you have a captive audience, volume dictates that profits will be good. This does not take into account the "hot iron" portion of revenue, which is the amount of revenue taken during the spike.

And the kicker is that the majority think that they are better off whenever prices dip.

Economics 101-Human fancy is the primary driver for all speculative markets, and there is no formula for fancy.

 

[homebrewer_99]

$2.059 yesterday...in Iowa...

 

[Ize]

With any speculation market, the prudent broker should play to the customer. In the case of fuel, when was the last time that you heard news flashes or alerts about dropping prices, or any situation that was going to ease prices? Shortage is how prices are shocked. What the consumer experiences is a gradual shock and stabilization repeated over time that inflates prices. The goal is to achieve a new status quo plateau of what consumers will accept. The evidence for this is clear. How many of us were outraged when prices went up from 1.9 to 2 to 2.5 to 2.8 to 30. to even 3.3???? Then when the prices fall to 2.4 or 2.5, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Bear in mind that this had happened in less than a calendar year. The effective peak rate increase was ~74%, and the stabilization rate was an increase of 32%. If you price shock even every 5 years, the low end is still an annual increase of ~6%, which is far above inflation and CPI. Given that you have a captive audience, volume dictates that profits will be good. This does not take into account the "hot iron" portion of revenue, which is the amount of revenue taken during the spike.

And the kicker is that the majority think that they are better off whenever prices dip.

Economics 101-Human fancy is the primary driver for all speculative markets, and there is no formula for fancy.

That's exactly it. And no that's not me being a wiseguy. I firmly believe that your post is dead on accurate. So the question then would be "Why?" I know the U.S. has paid far less per gallon than the rest of the world for a long time. Is it to even out the playing field?


Ize

 

[disaffected]

$2.059 in Dallas, and yeah, I think Truble has the issue nailed, too.

 

[chillHayze]

$3.10
gotta love the 70 mpg from the bike! Or the 20 mpg from the BMW...

 

[Spyk'd]

$3.10
gotta love the 70 mpg from the bike! Or the 20 mpg from the BMW...

How about a pic of your bike? I don't mind the gas prices so much as it costs me ~$8.00 to fill my tank and I HAVE to do it at least once every 4-5 weeks!



Here's mine:

...before adding my lightbar and engine guard.

<reminds self to take new pic>

 

[chillHayze]

How about a pic of your bike?

The rebel 250 in all it's glory. It's my first bike but I feel I have already "outgrown" it. Still fun to ride around some twisty backroads. I'm actually planning on a 599 or a Shadow next year. Can I have yours? That is a nice bike man!

 

[the_bird]

I want a bike at some point, I've gotten the preliminary go-ahead from SWMBO as long as I buy her something at the same time. Probably looking for a beat-up old Honda Nighthawk or something, something that won't make me cry too much the first time I lay it down. There are tons and tons of windy mountain roads that are perfect for a bike.

 

[chillHayze]

^^^That's what I thought too. But after riding all summer on the Rebel (basically a nighthawk with more chrome and rake) I never came close to laying it down. But the power does limit you from doing a lot. Both bikes are very forgiving and inexpensive. It's a bit of a drive to pick it up, but I'll prolly put the Rebel up for around $1900. It has under 2000 (no that's not a typo! two thousand) miles and is a 97.

 

[the_bird]

If I drop a couple nice tickets later this year, I may see if you're still interested in selling. I was planning on spending probably half of that, but also expecting to have to put some $$ back in for repairs. It's definately a nice looking bike for the money, pretty much exactly what I'll be looking for.

 

[chillHayze]

Sounds good. Soon comes the time of putting her up for winter storage, and then the withdrawl period...

Goin riding today! I love these twisty backroads in the fall! Am I sounding like a broken record?

Adams is what, about an hour to Albany, right?

 

[the_bird]

Just about an hour, maybe a little more depending on where I'm heading. I don't spend a ton of time in Albany, usually my trips see me heading over to Hennesey (outside of Troy). The road I usually take there, coming over the mountain, is one of those that I would love to do on a bike.

 

[todd_k]

I wouldn't get my hopes up about the forecast for something so unpredictable. After all, geopolitical events are a big factor in the price of crude oil.

1.99 for regular here in Richmond, VA. You were saying?????

 

[Spyk'd]

The rebel 250 in all it's glory. It's my first bike but I feel I have already "outgrown" it. Still fun to ride around some twisty backroads. I'm actually planning on a 599 or a Shadow next year. Can I have yours? That is a nice bike man!

Hey, at least you're on a Honda!!!


Check out the VLX's if you want to stay around 600cc's. Mine's a Shadow Aero 750 and it has all the power I need for my >5 mile cruise to work everyday, but if you like the bob tails, you should take a look at the Shadow Spirit. It's the same bike without the 'retro' fenders.

I got mine ~$5k at Abernathy's in TN and rode it back home! They had the best prices on the internet for new.

The Rebel's will last FOREVER. You can't kill them. Good choice to start with!

 

[the_bird]

The rebel 250 in all it's glory. It's my first bike but I feel I have already "outgrown" it. Still fun to ride around some twisty backroads. I'm actually planning on a 599 or a Shadow next year. Can I have yours? That is a nice bike man!

Hey Chill,

It's way premature, but if you're still looking to sell the bike in the spring, I've received preliminary go-ahead from SWMBO.

Basically, the same rules that my sister-in-law requires my brother to abide by are in effect:

1. Helmet
2. Leather
3. Gloves
4. No interstates
5. Taking a class

I showed her the pic of your bike and she just raised her eyebrows and said "that's a nice-looking bike!"

I like the Rebels, seems like exactly what I'm looking for, so if you're thinking about upgrading, keep me in mind.

 

[desiderata]

1.99 for regular here in Richmond, VA. You were saying?????

Let's wait and see what the prices are like after the elections next month...

 

[Ize]

Might or might not be fun to revisit this...

Just hit $3.15 here.

Gotta pay for that switchover to summer blend ya know...

Effing criminals.


Ize

 

[desiderata]

Yeah, it's amazing that increasing gas prices won't get drivers to switch to public transportation. It takes a catastrophy like this.

 

[DeathBrewer]

minimum of about $3.30/gallon here. california sucks.

 

[olllllo]

I paid $3.67 in Monterrey on SUN.
$3.15 in PHX now.

 

[Evan!]

Might or might not be fun to revisit this...

Just hit $3.15 here.

Gotta pay for that switchover to summer blend ya know...

Effing criminals.


Ize

Criminals? How so? Charging what the market will pay for their product? Outside of socialist regimes, that's not criminal, that's...capitalism. I'm no fan of high gas prices, but I'm also no fan of high prices for, say, milk...but nobody's calling the milk syndicate "criminals". Reminds me of the old joke...

Three guys are sitting in a prison cell awaiting sentencing. They get to talking and find out that all three of them are gas station owners. They ask each other what they're in for. First guy says, "I sold my gas at lower prices than my competitors. I'm charged with anti-competitive pricing." The second guy says, "I sold my gas for more than my competitors. I'm in for price gouging." And the last guy says, "I sold my gas at the same price as my competitors. I'm in for collusion."

I don't mean to start a flame war, but it annoys the hell out of me when people start calling other people "criminals" for simply charging what the market will bear, rather than selling it for less out of the goodness of their heart. If you had a stock room full of BMW's, and people would pay $35,000 each for them, would you sell them for $20,000 just to be nice? Of course not. So why should oil companies sell gas for less than what we are willing to pay for it? It makes no sense. It's always the same...everyone's a fan of free market capitalism until it inconveniences them...then they become armchair socialists. And yes, calling someone a "criminal" for charging what the market is WILLING to pay for their product is indeed socialism.

 

[Brewiz]

Let's not talk about MILK we go thru at least a gallon a day at my house... And gas is at 2.80 here.