I rememeber the gas lines of 73..even and odd tag numbers switched days allowed to get gas..(even Mondays,odd tues, and so on) we cut back, but the oil companies still made sure the price went up,up,up(along with OPEC). difference was,back then, the ave citizen wasn't nearly in debt as they are today...it was tight, but you never saw the amount of foreclosures/repossessions/bankruptcies as you do today. I'm like the gentleman who is in good shape, but that's not what worries me..it's the youth in general...including my kids, who want everything that's brought out on the market..especially in the digital phone/home entertainment markets...gotta have evry new gadget that comes out.... NOT. my wife and I just bought our 1st cell phones, and I went in kicking and screaming,too, i'll tell ya. money is to be saved, not spent, whenever possible..which means ..cutting back on things that are not life supporting, for the most part. I see TVs selling for over 2000 bucks... what a waste(IMHO)... same for $700 cell phones/mini-handheld PCs... not needed, WANTED. ya gotta know the difference.
Give an honest days work for an honest days pay
Last edited by Chris Padilla; 05-22-2008 at 7:05 PM.
Some people are not too concerned yet, apparently. I just got back from a quick errand and passed our two local stations. Up another nickel since yesterday at $4.06 (76) and across the street $4.09 (Chevron).
There filling up was a club cab Silverado Pickup with a big ski boat in tow. And guess what, he was at the Shell.
Last edited by Joe Pelonio; 05-22-2008 at 9:38 PM.
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher
"The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green
Science HAS come up with many alternatives. More than one country have already lessened their impact from the petroleum gouge.Brazil is already using flex fuel.Iceland has become extensively geothermal. The philippines also uses geothermal for electrical generation.
Your point is very valid......the new e-technology also makes "price setting" so much easier also. (I didnt say price fixing ) It is bizarre how the the futures market announces a price....and stations immediately change price almost immediately.
Yes inflation does happen...but commodities also deflate...sometimes RAPIDLY. I wont make any predictions as predictions should only be done by the clairvoyants!!!
There will never be a shortage of folks telling you why you can't or shouldn't do something...even though much has been accomplished that hasn't been done before !
Geez, I am so used to $3 that I slipped up. I'll edit it to $4!
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher
"The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green
Opening up lands for domestic drilling will only benefit the oil companies. It won't lower the cost of oil.
Interesting article in Business Week last Feb:
"Last July, when crude oil was surging toward $80 a barrel, the talk of a new reality in the energy markets hit a fever pitch. Some said China and India would so voraciously suck up supplies that we might never see $50 a barrel again. Others noted that the nations that make up OPEC had finally figured out how to put the screws to the West for good, emboldening Iran and Venezuela to send prices higher with a mere rattle of their sabers. The "multi-decade supertrend" mantra echoed through the canyons of Wall Street.
Then oil crashed, touching $50 in January, 35% off its peak. Since July, in fact, crude has underperformed the stock market by 48 percentage points. All this while China's oil-thirsty economy remains white-hot, Iran is barring nuclear inspectors, Venezuela is booting foreign oil investors, and Russia is putting the energy squeeze on neighbors.
So what happened? Call it a return to normalcy. The speculators and latecomers who bought into the new-paradigm argument suddenly turned tail--and traditional drivers of the oil market reemerged in force."
Last edited by Greg Funk; 05-22-2008 at 9:56 PM.
I'll second that. Like when someone says, "I could care less...," when they really mean that they couldn't care less. Now, as far as gas prices go, I paid $2.30 a gallon yesterday. Yes, you read that correctly. My local supermarket gives out coupons for gas, and you can combine them. I had been saving them for a few weeks, and had enough of them to save a buck forty a gallon. Next week will not be as pleasant.