See reply #9.thank youKevin

 

Guys..... Get over it!!

We've been paying over $5 per gallon for years (currently $6.50).

 

The problem isn't so much the absolute price we're paying, it's the 100% increase in price over the last 12 months. If fuel suddenly went from $6 to $12 for you, it would affect you too because the infrastructure is designed around a certain cost model. The US is largely built around a cost model of $1.50/gallon or so. There's literally almost ZERO cars available in the USA that get over 40mpg thanks to the fact that it didn't make economic sense to have expensive high efficiency technology that would never have a payback at $1.50/gallon.

 

The credit card companies must be ecstatic right about now. Around 50% of the population live from paycheck to paycheck, and any new expense goes on the debt tab. That is why retail spending goes down with relatively minimal gasoline price increases, and indicators regarding the health of the US economy turn downward.

The major crutch for the economy thus far has been home appreciation. If that goes away -- down goes humpty dumpty.

 

The majority of your cost for gas is taxes. Your wholesale cost is on par with ours.

$6 a gallon is expensive, but in this case its not price gouging. If stations in my area started charging $6 a gallon - then yeah, you could call it gouging. But they have real shortages down there, the station owners arent going to charge 2.59 a gallon up until they run out - what happens next week when they have no gas and no more profit. They've still got all of their bills to pay - but no product.

They're simply trying to anticipate future losses. They're businessmen, not charity workers.

/obligatory peak oil, get used to it, comment.

 

All I know is that I filled up last Friday for $2.619 in Phoenix, and I will not need gas for about two more weeks, hopefully long enough for the panic and supply issues to go away....Right now, the best price in Phoenix today is $2.599 still...............

 

MORE crazy stuff.
I'm glad I gassed both my vehicles last night.
$3.15/g for the HCH, $2.99/g for the Grand Caravan for a total of $80.
Could have been worse.

Due to most everyone clammering for gas yesterday (Many people even filled several 50gal drums at a time) many gas stations haven't taken delivery yet and are out of fuel.

They announced the refinery pipeline into GA is now pumping fuel, at about 30% capacity.

I almost laughed this morning when one of our local news casts reported that "The gas is only trickling out of the pumps" because of the lowered pipe capacity.
They interviewed a pumper who reported "The gas is pumping so slow because the tank pressure is so low"
Ignorant

People are waiting in long gas lines yet again today.

 

You apparently see high home prices as a good thing. I see it the other way. Everyone I know under the age of 25 is getting screwed because they can't afford to buy a home. Here in Phoenix a nice home starts at $250k. I'm talking just something 1200 square feet, no yard, in an old only slightly crime-ridden neighborhood. Either that or you have to buy so far out of town it will take you 60-90 minutes to get to work, potentially.

If home values crash, who does it hurt the most? Rich people who own a huge house of their own and 3-4 rentals. They'll survive. If home values crash, who does it help the most? People who are renting an apartment or house, getting NO equity because they don't have $12,500 sitting around for a down payment on a home that's going to cost them $1300/month. A real estate crash hurts the wealthy the most and is a huge boon to the working poor and lower middle-class that can't afford homes at current prices. It's debatable as to which is a better scenario.

 

Almost every economic situation is a "plus for the HAVES and a minus for the HAVE NOTS" and that will not ever change. It is hard for "average Joe" to buy a home in Phoenix, no doubt about that. It's a seller's market. I don't think that home prices alone are crutching up the overall economy, though.

I just hope the higher gas prices for this Katrina situation cause more people to buy hybrids and ditch big SUVs, and to consider altrernative ways to get around versus using a polluting, low economy vehicle.