Posted on 09/02/2005 10:05:18 PM PDT by NonZeroSum
Still the prices this winter... looking forward to OUCH.
There was one plan some time back which basically said use all the gas you want, one fixed price (not per therm, per month). That would be the year to get a gas barbecue and cook every day on it.
That's not helpful to your argument.
Gas going to $6.00 per gallon overnight, in the mere anticipation of shortages in supply seems to fit the bill.
It is not as though there were huge lines FIRST, and the retailers raised prices; instead, retailers raised prices and people thought "Oh, no! They're running out. Better fill up NOW."
Prayers for all!
They aren't buying up the local supply.
You would have made a wonderful turn-of-the-century Robber Baron. You'd fit right in:
robber baron
(noun) : an American capitalist of the latter part of the 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (as of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales)
(BTW, the benevolent government will be by in 7-10 days to pick up his dead-from-diabetic-shock body. Please leave it by the curb, covered in a blanket. Thank you. Signed, The government.)
If he couldn't afford the pump at the price the gouger is selling it at, he will be dead in 7-10 days from diabetic shock also. So the end game would be the same. And I'll bet if the gougers were stopped from gouging, there would still be plenty of pumps out there at a reasonable price with a decent profit to be made. Plus the gougers make the honest businessmen look real bad.
"Come on, show us your brilliance! Or are snide comments all you have to offer?
We're stil waiting."
It appears to me that you have a corner on this market (pun intended). Perhaps a mirror is in order for yourself to look in.
ping
Diesel fuel that is dyed red is assumed to not be highway fuel and may not be used in highway vehicles since it does not meet federal, diesel quality standards (e.g., sulfur content) unless it is used in a manner that is tax-exempt as defined by the IRS. The IRS has temporarily suspended that requirement in certain states because of the difficulty in getting food and grain stocks from the farm belt in the middle of the country down the major highways and the Mississippi River to Ports in New Orleans and elsewhere on the Gulf Coast. The port of New Orleans with the exception of the offshore oil terminal is effectively shut down. I have not checked the status of barges yet to see when they might begin operating again. [I posted the previous just to give an idea to readers a rough overview of the subject]
The IRS release on this subject was posted Sept. 2, 2005. Here is the link.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=147221,00.html.
Here is the key sentence in the release:
"This relief applies beginning August 25, 2005, in Florida, August 30, 2005, in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and August 31, 2005, in the rest of the United States, and will remain in effect through September 15, 2005."
This will have no affect on your outstanding contracts. The only affect will be on the carriers themselves who may use dyed diesel for their operations if they choose to do so. Whether the exemption will be extended beyond 15 sept. is an open question. After Hurricane Dennis only a handful of counties in Florida were exempted for a short period of time, and no further extensions were applied. Not knowing were you are farming and what products you are harvesting in the near future it is difficult to predict what diesel prices might be in your area in the days ahead depending on where your sources of supply are located. I assume your existing contracts extend thru the harvest season.
All the indices on the NYMEX were down today. That could mean anything in todays market with large daily swings on crude oil (CL) quite common.
I did check the Shell Oil site and the Motiva Norco and Convent refineries should restart next week. Their Capline pipeline system in the Gulf is operating at abt. 75% capacity. Pumping stations in Mississippi are down due to electric utility outages. They will be back at 100% capacity availability as soon as those services are restored. There was no damage to their piping system in Lousiana.
Also see NYMEX reiteration of rule with respect to the EPA's announcement here: http://www.nymex.com/press_releas.aspx?id=pr20050831c
When you invest your hard earned capital, aren't you doing it for a profitable return?
There is profit, and then there is obscene profit. To many gas companies currently are falling into the latter category, feeding off of a natural disaster. It morally stinks.
To = Too
and you sound exactly like the "educated" liberals who boast a diploma in place of morality.. a brain won't keep you from going to Hell.. but a heart just might.
If a natural disaster just reduced the supply, but the demand remained the same, what happens to the price?
If a natural disaster just reduced the supply, but the demand remained the same, what happens to the price?
In the area of the disaster, such as in NO, the demand would not remain the same, as everything is underwater and unusable. And the town is a ghost town, so there is no demand to be had, as there will be no people to demand it. NO is dead, for all ostensible purposes.
However, you have just set up the perfect condition for price gouging, haven't you. At least amongst unconscionable shysters who would financially attempt to feed off of other people's grief. Do you include yourself as one who would price gouge? Profit off of people's desperation? Are you one of them?
If the supply goes down, the price will go up.
That's all well and good.
But if Marathon Oil's supply goes down and their price goes up, there is someone in some office looking at available data making a decision what the price should go up to.
There is no auction at the corner gas station with an auctioneer saying "2.50, 2.50, 2.50....2.65...265...3.00, 3.00, 3.00....sold to the gentleman in the strawhat & coveralls for $3. a gallon."
Someone sets the price using some formal or informal standard or formula to do so. Let's not pretend otherwise.
I posted this same sentiment days ago. Gouging is the Free Markets way of stopping irrational hording in its tracks."
Right on all counts, it is also a way to force conservation of available resources at this time of crisis. Amen.
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