Gas Prices

[IIC]

this hit my e-mail .. just passing along, fyi ..


Hi everyone,

You know, I'm not one to send the chain letters around. However, this is a WORTHY cause.
I'm on the GAS WARpath! Have a great weekend.
Margie

> GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work
>
> This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola
> executive It came from one of his engineer buddies
> who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your
> consideration.
>
> Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit
> close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might
> go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We
> need to take some intelligent, united action.
>
> Philip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes
> MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain
> day" campaign that was going around last April or May!
> The oil companies just laughed at that because they
> knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by
> refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience
> to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever
> thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
> really work. Please read on and join with us!
>
> By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at
> about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently
> $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the
> oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us
> to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at
> $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to
> teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not
> sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each
> day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we
> are going to see the price of gas come down is if we
> hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their
> gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
> How?
>
> Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop
> buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if
> we all act together to force a price war.
>
> Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T
> purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies
> (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not
> selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their
> prices. If they reduce their prices, the other
> companies will have to follow suit. But to have an
> impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
> and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now,
> don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and
> I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of
> people!!
>
> I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us
> send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and
> those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =
> 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches
> the sixth group of people, we will have reached over
> THREE MILLION consumers.
>
> If those three million get excited and pass this on to
> ten friends each, then 30 million people will have
> been contacted! If it goes one level further, you
> guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
>
> Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people.
> That's all!
> (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million
> and all you have to do is send this to 10 people....
> Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician.
> But I am. so trust me on this one.)
>
> How long would all that take? If each of us sends
> this
> e-mail out to ten more people within one day of
> receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be
> contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you
> didn't think you and I had that much potential, did
> you! Acting together we can make a difference.
>
> If this makes sense to you, please pass this message
> on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL
> THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP
> THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

We are on the same wavelength...On Friday I thought about setting up a Boycott Exxon website...But I read a whole bunch of those types of letters and some other stuff like what Scifos posted...Decided not to bang my head up against a wall...Doug(IIC)

[scifos]

We all wish it would work.

Perhaps a revolution??

[Olegeezer]

Hey... Gas station on Merritt Pkwy, Fairfield CT 3.05 4/23 then DOWN to 2.99 4/24....don't suspect I've witnessed a trend though.

[mrmarket]

Permit me to explain why gas prices are high:

Everyone on the planet has the right to buy or sell commodity futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Three of the commodities on the NYMEX are gasoline, Heating Oil and Crude Oil.

Any fear of shortages in these commodities or excessive demand in these commodities will cause speculators to bid up the price of these commodities. These speculators could be anyone, oil companies, doctors, lawyers, hedge fund managers, VTP investors, etc.

If you are a refiner making gasoline, you always have the option of selling your production into the NYMEX. As NYMEX prices for gasoline increase, it doesn't make any sense for a refiner to sell his gasoline at a price lower than what he can get in the NYMEX. If a gasoline buyer offers a lower price to the refiner, the refiner will simply hold onto his gasoline and sell it into the NYMEX. (If your house was worth $300,000 why would you sell it for $200,000?).

So effectively the NYMEX determines the price of gasoline. When a gas station owner buys gasoline from a storage terminal, he pays something close to the NYMEX price. He then adds a few cents to cover his operating costs, and that's what you and I pay at the pump.

Boycotting Exxon gas stations won't change the price of gasoline unless, by boycotting Exxon, you don't buy gasoline anywhere else. If the total demand decreases, that would influence pricing anywhere. Based on the number of SUV's I see driving to work every morning, I don't see any reduction in demand.

Hope this explanation helps you understand the pricing dynamic.

[Rob]

Just Another Opinion

FWIW, I think Jim Smith's idea, or something akin to it, has the best chance of achieving a desirable result. When the "free market" system is manipulated in such a way as to gouge the consumer for a necessary commodity, as we see happening with gasoline, the only way to effectively put a stop to it is through government intervention.

The answer is not a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies, though. You may say, "Why not, Rob?" Glad you asked. I'll tell you why. Because, as Pres. Ronald Reagan explained, big corporations do not pay taxes; they only collect taxes. Raise the taxes on the big oil companies, and the net effect will only be higher prices at the pump for you and me.

It's a tough problem, for which an immediate solution is not clear-cut. But I have a solution for each person on an individual level: just learn to milk so many $$$$$ out of the stock market that paying 3 or 4 bucks at the pump becomes much less of a concern. That's where reading this fine message board comes in. There are some pretty bright people here from whom any of us can learn a thing or two about spotting good market opportunities and finding good entry points--and of course, the harder (and even more important) part, finding good exit points.

[Jim Smith]

There's a conspiracy of fools here: The SEC has to raise the margin requirements for the oil and gasoline futures trading pits, but no one is talking about this....We've seen what happens when the SEC does this, the Hunt brothers go from being billionaires to mere millionaires....But CNBC, CNN etal just talk about stupid remedies like winfall taxes.....Is everybody stupid out there? The Saudis say it's the Iranians fault but the Saudis love this situation.

[mrmarket]

Saudis production is at a peak. They want prices as high as they can go. OPEC no longer influences oil prices.

[skiracer]

There's a conspiracy of fools here: The SEC has to raise the margin requirements for the oil and gasoline futures trading pits, but no one is talking about this....We've seen what happens when the SEC does this, the Hunt brothers go from being billionaires to mere millionaires....But CNBC, CNN etal just talk about stupid remedies like winfall taxes.....Is everybody stupid out there? The Saudis say it's the Iranians fault but the Saudis love this situation.

An on top of all that our own administration, Bush and his oil company cohorts, are pissing on us. It's a joke. They are getting rich on the oil, gas, and soon ethanol, while the regular Joe is gonna go broke just buying gas to go to work.
Couldn't agree more with your take on the futures trading pits. They're running the show. Anyone that thinks this isn't so or that this isn't a conspiracy by the big boys should look at this bridge I have for sale in West Virginia. Real cheap.

[New-born baby]

Yes, if you are talking about Socialists

But CNBC, CNN etal just talk about stupid remedies like winfall taxes.....Is everybody stupid out there?

First, some definitions:
1. Communists believe that the state owns everything. No private property.
2. Facists say, "you may own property, but the dictator is going to tell you how you must use it." (i.e. Govt regulation produced by a dictator).
3. Socialists say, "you may own property, but we are going to take a vote to tell you how you must use it." (ie. govt regulation produced by a vote)

Application: the USA is a socialist country. Winfall profits taxes are socialist inventions to "solve problems." But of course, whatever you tax, you get less of. Increasing taxes on oil and gasoline producers means that you get less oil and gasoline.

Answer to Jim Smith: yes, when you view the Communist News Network, and Clinton's Never Been Caught news, everybody IS stupid out there!

[mrmarket]

A windfall tax would mean that oil companies would be less incentivized to go find more oil.

Look at the oil companies now..they are flush with cash but they haven't invested it. The reason is because they don't know where the oil is. The price of oil needs to go HIGHER before you see new technologies deployed to find oil in hostile environments or in countries with unstable governments.

[Peter Hansen]

Find Cheapest Gas

Friends........go to www.gasbuddy.com
Enter your zipcode.....and you will have cheapest stations in your areA!

[New-born baby]

A windfall tax would mean that oil companies would be less incentivized to go find more oil.

Look at the oil companies now..they are flush with cash but they haven't invested it. The reason is because they don't know where the oil is. The price of oil needs to go HIGHER before you see new technologies deployed to find oil in hostile environments or in countries with unstable governments.

Or, reduce regulation and let there be drilling in the Gulf and in Alaska, and the price won't have to go higher. Don't forget: you can stifle supply (i.e. for those of you who are Socialists, that means "raise prices") by regulating them to death. In the USA, no new refineries since 1976 is a crime.

[Jim Smith]

drilling in Alaska....What a hoot.....This is the US's strategic reserve, not those big storage facilities the President is referring too today......Democrats will say, it hurts the wildlife in the alaskan region....Republicans will blame the democrats for not drilling.
But no one wants to drill alaska, yet.....The US needs alaska in its back pocket as the oil reserve of last resort.

[scifos]

Interesting article about a "fuel bank"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060507/ap_on_bi_ge/gas_bank