F... gas prices

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

That comment was part of a chain of posts discussing the government's role over the past 35 years. It wasn't an out-of-the-blue "let's be mad at the gov't" post.

And of course it serves a purpose - examining our historical approach to this problem should be the basis for choosing a path going forward. We have historically failed to provide oil companies with incentives to find alternative fuels, because they can achieve higher profits without them. Even now, at $4/gallon, consumers are still willing to pick up the tab.

How do you get the oil companies to spend the necessary money to develop alternatives when, as firstdown and SGG have pointed out, they are able to report record profits to Wall Street simply by maintaining the status quo?

I think SGG has made the point abundantly clear. The incentive already exists for anybody, an oil company or a garage inventor, to develop an alternative fuel source or a mode of transport that does not depend on oil.

The amount of money said inventor stands to make is staggering. I'm not sure why you think we need to incent the oil companies?

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think SGG has made the point abundantly clear. The incentive already exists for anybody, an oil company or a garage inventor, to develop an alternative fuel source or a mode of transport that does not depend on oil.

The amount of money said inventor stands to make is staggering. I'm not sure why you think we need to incent the oil companies?

I agree with him that we need to incent oil companies. I believe responsible incentives that require real results is good policy. I am a staunch free marketer and generally want our gov't to stay the hell out of the markets but I think smartly structured incentives could reduce our time on foreign oil by a significant amount. I am willing to try at least.

[MTK]

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers eager to curb speculation in oil markets got support Monday from witnesses who told a House subcommittee that oil prices could fall sharply if Congress put strict limits on trading in energy futures by investment banks, pension funds and other financial investors.

link: Free Preview - WSJ.com

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers eager to curb speculation in oil markets got support Monday from witnesses who told a House subcommittee that oil prices could fall sharply if Congress put strict limits on trading in energy futures by investment banks, pension funds and other financial investors.

link: Free Preview - WSJ.com

Oh sure Matty, cite some liberal rag like the Wall Street Journal.

Interesting stuff. I've read elsewhere that speculators are driving the price up by $25-$50 p/b. I hadn't read that they're driving the price up by 60%. If they're right, Congress acts, and gas goes back to $2 p/g the economy would get a big boost.

[70Chip]

I note that "the experts" are now calling on regulators to increase margin requirements.

I have been calling for this since at least May 16th:

"I think the government shoult make it illegal to trade oil on margin. I think you would see the price drop right away if some of these guys were risking their own hard cash. I think the margin is currently like 5% which is ridiculous."

Most "experts" are generally 1 to 2 months behind me, depending on their field of endeavor. Everything would be so much simpler if everyone would just do what I tell them.

More May 16 brilliance from me:

"I doubt that increased demand is soley to blame for oil quadrupling in price. I think speculation is driving the increase as well. Hedge fund managers are now into oil big time. Even individuals are getting in for the ride. A friend of mine justified it by saying he had to recoup the losses he was experiencing at the pump. Money chases money. As more and more people are seeing the possibility of making money in commodities rather than stocks and bonds, the price only increases. Imagine if a bunch of moneyed investors suddenly all decided that baseball cards were a sure thing. Their sudden entry into the market would necessarily force the price of a Clemente rookie card through the roof. The question is, is this a permanent thing or at some point will gravity have it's affect. We need a crash badly. As quickly as the money went in, it will run for the exits if the price falls fast enough.

I think there are a few simple steps that could be taken to at least discourage new money from forcing up the price any further. The Democrats may serve useful here as their penchant for regulation would surely be helpful. Maria Cantwell of Washington is making this a pet issue. She's kind of a butter face but she has nice hair and seems relatively bright. It would be worth a try at any rate."

[724Skinsfan]

Just read this on CNN.

With 3.3 million cars off the roads in Beijing, I wonder that if demand goes down will the cost of oil/barrell go down a little bit during that time as well?

[MTK]

Gas just dropped 8 cents at my local station over the weekend.

[BleedBurgundy]

If Gas goes back to $2/gallon that will be a HUGE boost to the economy. I am not knowledgable concerning stocks and commodities. Is it possible that the parties mentioned above (hedge fund managers, investment banks, etc) artificially raised the market price through collusion? Would that be illegal if true?

[hesscl34]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

If Gas goes back to $2/gallon that will be a HUGE boost to the economy. I am not knowledgable concerning stocks and commodities. Is it possible that the parties mentioned above (hedge fund managers, investment banks, etc) artificially raised the market price through collusion? Would that be illegal if true?

Not possible, and if it was YES it would be illegal!

[Smooter]

Gas dropped 40 cents a gallon here in OKC. Its 3.57 now.

[Daseal]

40 cents? Seriously? Right down the street from me, a gas station made all their gas for 2 hours (during rush hour.) Apparently, few people had seen 29 in Centreville that bad ever. Really screwed things up.

[Smooter]

Originally Posted by Daseal

40 cents? Seriously? Right down the street from me, a gas station made all their gas for 2 hours (during rush hour.) Apparently, few people had seen 29 in Centreville that bad ever. Really screwed things up.

Yeah it blew my mind. Unfortunately I had just filled up two days prior for 3.98.

[Daseal]

The amount of gas people must have wasted idling I bet was insane.

[That Guy]

btw, cnn had a thing today about people converting their gas cars to electric (off the shelf modifications)... putting something like 23 car batteries in the truck and being able to drive for 1.3 cents per mile...

not eco-friendly (as i've already mentioned) but cheap enough to be worthwhile maybe?

[mooby]

Gas dropped 8 cents at my local Wawa, it's now down to 3.91 a gallon. And Daseal, what do you mean they made all their gas during rush hour? I was watching the news last week and it said from 6-9 in the morning a gas station was selling gas for 2.50 a gallon, is that what you were talking about? The Fox chopper showed the line and it was absolutely insane, like it circled the gas station and went around the block and all the way around a dead end and cops were directing it.