Posted on 08/08/2005 8:20:52 AM PDT by newgeezer
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest sports betting site on the Internet expanded Friday into the energy arena, offering gamblers a chance to bet on soaring U.S. retail gasoline prices.
"Record gasoline prices are affecting everyone, so why not let people bet on it?" said PinnacleSports.com spokesman Kyle Fratini. "We've been thinking about this for months."
The online betting site, which normally focuses on mainstream sports like football, basketball and soccer, is giving gamblers a chance to bet on whether gasoline will reach $3.00 a gallon in New York or Los Angeles by the end of the year, with 30 to 1 odds.
On Friday, average gasoline prices in Los Angeles were a lofty $2.616 a gallon, up more than 20 percent from last year and among the highest in the nation, according to the AAA's daily survey.
AAA's survey will be used by PinnacleSports.com as the benchmark for its bets.
Nationwide, gasoline prices are zipping along just over $2.30 a gallon, within 2 cents of the record peak hit July 14, as oil refiners are forced to pay up for record world crude oil prices of over $60 a barrel.
Also up for wager: Will the average price of gas in the United States reach $2.35 per gallon by Labor Day? Will the average price of gas in the U.S. reach $2.40 per gallon by the end of the year?
Fratini said maximum bets on gasoline will be around $500, though the site allows for bets in the thousands of dollars for sports like football.
Are you quoting John Kerry here? Hillary is that you?
Hey, why not raise taxes?! /sarcasm
"Alternative" fuels will come into greater use when the economics of them versus the economics of fossil fuels creates the improved market for "alternatives".
Natural, market-driven higher oil prices are the best, fairest and most efficient incentive for that development.
God forbid companies make a profit..
a price freeze would have us all on gas lines.
what the administration can do is open the SPR to try and at least take the speculative component out of the oil price.
After talking to a neighbor that recently returned from there, he told me that in a lot of places, electric power is not available 24hrs a day, and other utilities are not very reliable. I'm sure, in some places all is well though.
Protecting the Tundra of ANWR is a mental illness. The more oil on the market the lower the price. Period !
So far, according to the Fed and industry sources, greater productivity and new technologies are producing efficiencies to offset the higher oil prices in all industries other than the major airlines. Which is why inflation remains in check in spite of more than a year of much higher fuel prices.
No the administration should leave the SPR alone.. The SPR is there for one reason and that is in case there is a national emergency.. Clinton tried it 2000 and it did not work..
government core inflation figures exclude food and energy - its a meaningless number to a consumer. unless you can find me someone who doesn't need food or energy.
but it can work this time, if managed correctly. release oil from the SPR at $42 and sign a contract with the new iraqi government to replace it - they have new fields coming on line. once this SPR oil starts to displace contracts at the market price, the price will fall, and once the speculative stop positions are taken out by that fall, the selloff will provide a least $10-12 of relief on the price.
ANWAR
I am not opposed to it, but there are some myths about it.
It will not produce oil for U.S. domestic consumption or offset the importation of foreign sourced oil, in the short to medium term. The production plus transportation costs for ANWAR oil will make the retail cost of it such that it will all be sold in Asian markets, such as Japan, where they will be willing to pay for it.
And, due to increased worldwide demand, those exports to Asia will not reduce the amount of imported oil the U.S. domestic economy will need.
What ANWAR will do, which is a good thing, is that it will improve the economics of American-based oil companies, helping them to have the ROI and revenue to invest in and feed the American domestic economy from other sources, in time. But it will not come directly from ANWAR and it will only increase domestic sourced supplies by the extent that revenue from ANWAR is re-invested in such sources.
Apparently, it struck a nerve. I took his point to be that the rising price of gasoline is largely a matter of supply and demand.
Seriously dude, get a grip and start paying attention.
Back at you. ;)
I've got one kid and a full size van. I get around 15 miles per gallon. During the school year, I carpool 6 kids to the school I work at. I filled the van the other day and it cost $48.00. But now that's it's summer, it's usually only me and 1 or 2 kids.
If I were to trade my van in for something else, it would cost way more in my money and gasoline used. First, I'd get stuck with a car payment I don't want. Next, even if I got a mini-van, I couldn't drive the 6 kids anymore because of the passenger side airbag in new cars. So, two cars would have to make the same 19 mile round trip, twice a day for the second, that my present gas guzzler does now.
So, oh great wizard, should I buy a third car for summer use or continue to use my van even if only one or two people are in it? I eagerly await your answer because your judgement seems so considered.
Sorry we should leave the SPR alone..
Places in San Francisco it already has topped $3.00. The average price is over $2.60 for regular.
Not being alive in the 70s, I do not know the effect they caused.
But, I will back down and defer to those who know better and say prize freezes would be a bad idea.
The economy will adjust and as it does per-capita consumption will go down and as it does demand will go down and as it does prices will go down. Its called markets, not government and works most fairly and effeciently when allowed to work, instead of controlled by government fiat.
Can't show clients any real estate on the back of a motorcycle, but thanks for the thought. ;^)
Warning: You might find that some people can be extremely sensitive about this. ;O)
I paid 2.98 a gallon for regular in Baker, California last month. The station down the road had it at 3.06 or some such for regular.
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