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.
The main obstructionists are people who have never been there and have no idea what it is like other than the phony photos they see from "save the wilderness" morons. One of the favorite Alaskan bumper stickers for years has been one that reads: "Please God, grant us another pipeline. We promise not to piss it all away this time."
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Exactly -- the obstructionists are both the anti-American liberals and the mindless so-called "conservationists" these self-proclaimed experts of NOTHING. This would not have been so much of a problem, except for a VERY WEAK AND ACTIVIST CONGRESS which has pandered to the freaks of the left and prevented this nation from having A REAL, MEANINGFUL ENERGY POLICY -- ala Clinton/Gore just for starters.
I am doing a news story on a guy who made his own electric car for hardly any money....just used batteries he found around and everything. He is a self-taught electrical engineer...remarkable guy.
He just uses the old junk car to drive around town, but it still saves a ton of money.
There are kits you can get online to try to convert cars to other forms of energy and various devices that are supposed to improve gas mileage, but I wonder if they really work.
You must work for Halliburton...
We are rapidly approaching that point. I haven't felt any pressure from the price until now. We drive about 25,000 miles a year. It now costs me $45 to fill the tank of my Camry. I cannot imagince what it costs to fill an SUV or a full-size pick-up. I'd LOVE to have either of those, BTW, but the costs of running them are prohibitive.
Eventually, I think the president may have to freeze gas prices if he doesn't want the economy to tank. I don't like freezing prices, but if you have to do it, you have to do it.
I know around here, most folks say they are willing to keep driving the same amount for quite awhile, until it hits about $3 or so.
At that point, when it hits that number here in the plains, the economy may really start to take a dive.
Gas tax is 40 cents a gallon here in Michigan, so prices would hover around $2 a gallon.
I wasn't aware of that!If this is fact,it demonstrates his(Clinton's)FECKLESSNESS to an even greater dergree!!
A recent caller to Rush illustrated a big part of the gas problem we have now, and that is that each state has their own environmental regulations that require unique formulations. If gas was the same nationwide, it would easy to divert supplies when needed. As it stands now, refineries are making "custom" gasolines for different locales, which inhibits production capabilities and limits where the gas can be sold.
Is that fed, state and local?
There are some signs that demand is starting to slacken, both here and abroad.
Hurricane threats in the Gulf (of Mexico) have eased (the late season threat is typically in the Atlantic).
Refinery capacity is the biggest problem (IMHO). We just don't have enough refineries, and no one wants one in their backyard -yet. We'll see what a year's worth of $2.00+ gasoline does to change people's minds.
ANWR needs to happen, along with Continental shelf exploration. Is there any political will from the Republicans? We'll see.
Market speculation is rampant now, but will likely calm along with demand in the fall.
As for industrial demand, wind power and solar energy are expensive and inefficient, and coal is not all that clean. Nuclear power is now getting a second look from people who used to dismiss it out of hand, but wince every time they fill up their SUV's. Hell, if the French can do it, why not us?
Be thankful we aren't like Britain or nearly everywhere else in the world that pays at LEAST $4 per gallon.
If we could get past the sugar people, ethanol would make a lot of sense also.
We may have to consider doing that pretty soon. If that fails, just freeze the price....a solution I don't like, but we can't afford for the economy to go south.
Jimmy Carruh tried that.
It worked out really really well.
Good luck.
We get ours from Mexico and venezuela.
Hit a day last week where it cost me $105 to fill our two vehicles.
Yeah, a family of 5 will ride on a motorcycle.
So will those that live in cold weather states deserve paying even higher prices for heating oil this winter?
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