Posted on 11/15/2005 2:52:45 AM PST by RWR8189
The price of oil affects more than just the gasoline tank. I restore old houses and have to use oil based paint a lot of the time. When I went to buy paint last week, I was shocked at the price even though I get a contractor's discount.
Sadly, lots of people panicked and locked in their heating oil prices at or near the high.
Thank the media for the hysterical reaction.
Using the credit card that gives us 5% back and swiping our Kroger discount card which gives us 3 cents off each gallon, we're well below $2/gallon and have been for a week or so.
Ya wanna lend me your credit card so you can make an additional 5% on my gas purchases ;-)
I got it for $2.17 at a Pilot station in Scranton PA last Saturday night (November 12). The day before it had been $2.19 at the same station.
We're down to 2.13 in Detroit.
It was 2.19 last weekend.
I like gambling that the prices will drop further!
Yup.
People are finding ways to save - and at least some of them don't need the Senate to tell us how to do so.
I said in September that oil will gradually fall toward the 35-45/bbl range. Now there is enough data to give a time: I expect that price to be reached in January or February. I'll also predict now: in a couple weeks, there will be industry and government reports available that will shock everyone as to how much less heating oil and gas people are using this winter. I know many around here are using "alternates". I expect that to set off a rapid drop of 4-5/bbl.
I've been wrong before, but the run-up to that 65/bbl range and "predictions of oil above $105 by brokers" seemed so much like a selling opportunity to me. It reminded me of the late-70s run-up of gold from 400/oz to 900 - with people selling their grandmothers wedding ring, etc. --- followed by a rapid crash to 600 and slower decline down to $250 over the next decade plus that we're only now recovering from.
Why is ANYONE surprised that NEW HOME sales are slipping? Katrina drove up builders' costs 20-30%, making the value of an existing home relative to a new house much greater. Nov./Dec. is "death valley" for existing home sales in any year, but watch for a surge in existing home sales after Christmas. That should continue for 6-8 months, until the price effects of Katrina pass through, then new homes should start to pick back up again, especially since those who sold---or want to sell---their homes will have a better market for the next 6-10 months.
Gas here in Dayton was down to $2.09 last week, just up slightly this week at $2.14.
Were down to $1.98 a gal. here in central NJ, 20 miles from NYC.
I'm in NJ, but my son lives in Ohio so I'm glad the price is that much lower there.
6c a gallon less yesterday than Saturday.
I paid $2.01 at Sam's Club in Louisville. It got as high as $3.19 here.
What about all those experts who said oil was going straight to $100 per barrel? What are they saying now?
It's such a good thing that the Senate is fixing these price thingies for us, ain't it?
I'm still wondering when I will hear ONE of the Democrat Senators PROPOSE AND PUSH a piece of legislation changing the only item D.C. has DIRECT control of: Eliminating or lowering the federal taxes on gasoline to help reduce the price directly and immediately.
C'mon, shoomie!
I am privately contracting my new home. I have seen a 'slight' increase in price of wood materials, but other items that can be affected by petroleum (shingles, etc) have not spiked as much as I thought, if any.
I work in an industry that deals with different types of clients. One is wood products (lumber, paper, particle board, etc). I attribute the lack of spiked prices due to the over abundance of stock they had on hand at the time.
In this area (NC), there has been no shortage I am aware of, and prices have only been affected by psychology, not shortages.
Personally, I would attribute the drop in demand to a number of things; interest rates, home prices (ridiculous in Cary), and the psychological impact of being told that any day you could/would lose your job. I can only hope that my house in Cary will sell since it is so much cheaper than anything built in the last few years.
I've heard some of the media geniuses trying to say that it was actually the Congressional hearings with the oil companies that drove the prices down, even though the slide began before the hearings.
I've seen it go down two times in the same day at some stations. I think we need to have another Congressional investigation.
Ya know ...you'd think one of those Harvard business school geniuses could find a way for the average joe to purchase their year's supply of gasoline, heating oil, natural gas or whatever online ....would increase liquidity in those futures...
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