Thread: What's up? Gas Prices Down???

Dragons5 did you mean hydrogen or hybrid? A hydrogen fuel cell car would be like achieving nuclear fission. I'd love to see one produced. There is a prototype used by a utilities company in Fla or Georgia but it cost over a million dollars. Their only emission is water vapor.

http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv ... index.html

GM Hydrogen car research.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.0 ... lcars.html

More on GM Hydrogen car. This article says it will be on line and in production by the end of the decade...and that it generates more electricity than it uses and the surplus can be used to fuel the owner's house.

IS THIS COOL OR WHAT?

Reads like science fiction. Great news from the people who gave us the Escalade.
The un- Holy Trinity Bush, Big oil and G.M. are going to pick our pockets till the last drop of dinosaur goo exits a tailpipe.

Can you say the elections are getting closer and the RNC does not want to loose seats over fuel. Bush called his buddies and said ok lets lighten up on the fuel costs tell after the elections.

Boy you guys really need some tinfoil hats. Yeah right, oil is not a global commodity. One political group in one country sets the price. BS.

The real reason?

End of the driving season and futures trading is down because everyone knows GDP growth is slowing. Plus no major hurricanes and some demand destruction due to the historic highs.

But I know, it's a lot easier to just blame one group of people than take a look at the whole picture so carry on...

$2.11-$2-19 in Cleveland.

I remember a few years back paying $0.98 in Georgia! Now we thing $2.11 is a great price!

Dasculling....Oil is a Global Commodity.

Gasoline is not.

We're discussing the price at the pump for gasoline, not the world market price per barrel of crude.

While they often parallel, they are not the same markets.

Gasoline is but one by-product of crude oil.

Gasoline prices have most definitely been manipulated within the US for at least the past 2 years.

Originally Posted by Daculling

Boy you guys really need some tinfoil hats. Yeah right, oil is not a global commodity. One political group in one country sets the price. BS.

The real reason?

End of the driving season and futures trading is down because everyone knows GDP growth is slowing. Plus no major hurricanes and some demand destruction due to the historic highs.

But I know, it's a lot easier to just blame one group of people than take a look at the whole picture so carry on...

That's pretty much it, though I wouldn't go so far as making the tinfoil hat comment. There is some limited ability of governments and corporations to influence gas and oil pricing, but there were several reasons for the recent run-ups and the subsequent drop.

1. As you mention, there is a seasonal price drop associated with the end of summer.

2. Fears of shortages caused by another predicted extreme hurricane season have proved to be unfounded.

3. Tensions have eased somewhat in both Lebanon and Iran.

The "macro" reason for the vast increase in oil prices over the last few years is the same reason that gold and other hard commodities have increased by the same approximate margins. It's a monetary phenomenon. Oil is still primarily a dollar-denominated commodity. The dollar has not been a fixed value since FDR handed all of our gold over to the creditor banks. Dollar value is determined by the calculated value of the sum total of US assets (including any person or business with a TIN or SSN) compared against the number of dollars issued, which can best be gauged by the national debt ceiling, since FRNs are in fact debt notes rather than representing positive value.

Since 2001, the debt ceiling has almost doubled, as has the national debt. That means that the dollar has devaluated by that relative amount, adjusted for growth in GDP. That would mean that the dollar has actually devalued by some 40%. We see that in the price of gold, the price of oil, the value of the dollar against the Pound and the Euro, and just about anywhere else that we are able to compare against a relatively fixed value. That's why the stock market, though it appears to be holding its ground, has in fact slipped precipitously. Even as the market appears healthy, major US corporations like GM and Ford are cutting back and laying off workers.

So, back to gasoline. The debt ceiling has not been raised recently, so slow but steady economic growth and the increase in assignable assets in the form of illegal aliens with ITINs buoys the value of the dollar and commodity prices abate. Couple that with the seasonal factors and the positive outlook for speculators and it is no surprise that petroleum prices are taking a dive.

If you want to make money speculating on oil and gas prices, watch the debt ceiling. If it gets appreciably increased again, go buy yourself some futures.

I stick by what I said. The government, big oil and the auto companies are holding our feet to the fire. Renewable energy is possible but there's nothing in it for big oil, our government doesn't seem concerned, in fact Bush po-pooed the concept during his first term, and the auto companies particularly the American ones would build only SUVs if they could get away with it. The profit margin on the conventional SUV is huge. I believe we will burn gasoline untill the last drop of dinosaur goo exits the tailpipe of an SUV.
Having said that I'll see your tinfoil hat and raise you a pair of Mickey Mouse ears.