Gas wars? Or Someting Else?

That has never been the way sales goes.
If people are not buying something raising the price isn't the right thing to do. If no one is buying it don't matter how high you put the price to maintaing profits. That just means people will buy less.

Really it makes sense to someone who has no experience in sales and very little experience in buying.

We're still paying $3.80 as of yesterday... What's up with that? >:-(

But with gas, people HAVE to buy it in many cases. In my case, I will pay what I have to pay since I have to get to work. I may cut back on "recreational" but that's already cut back due to the economy.

When I was in college I was appalled at the price of one of my text books- $110!!! It was a Greek lexicon. How many people need Greek lexicons? Shouldn't the price have been very low due to demand? I would suspect that supply/demand control things to a point, but a Greek lexicon still costs to produce and that cost is probably higher due to them making so few at a time. But some people NEED a Greek lexicon, so they pay what they have to.

I read some articles that talk about supply and demand. They mention that although demand may be down here, it's not down in India and China. So, if that is true then it indicates another dip and the effects of a world-wide recession, right?

Another factor is control of production. Do oil wells ever run at full capacity.

Not arguing just throwing things out there.

Everybody rants on gas prices, but few remark on diesel prices.

This country moves on diesel. Many independent OTR, logging, etc. trucks have been forced to suspend operations or shut down altogether.

Our family scaled back drastically on diesel usage in order not to run in the red. Some have sold off equipment and others have pooled usage and costs.

My own personal truck is a diesel, and I've been forced to make some hard choices. My trailer now stores hay and feed because I cannot afford to haul my personal horses except in emergency.

I had to laugh at my reaction to my friend calling to tell me that diesel prices were "coming down" at the local pump. I was excited, then she told me it was down to $3.99 That was down from $4.09 The week before. Yesterday it was back up to $4.05!

The reality hit me again, hard, when I heard one of my neighbors had dusted off his mule-drawn equipment and is training his grand kids to use equine power this winter. I've already talked to him about a refresher course and possibly training my gelding

I'm sure my fancy lookin' Araloosa pulling a plow will draw a few second looks, but it's crunch time so if he wants to eat oats he better learn to plant them

BTW, horse/mule drawn equipment and tack are pulling high dollar around here, so if any of you are storing it, the thieves are also busy.

I may end up selling my diesel and downsizing my trailer, just so they don't sit and rust. The economy will probably not recover during my productive lifetime.

In His Love
Mich

I can remember having to buy college books. A couple of things make them a lot different than gas.
The demand for the Greek lexicon may be small but the number available was also very small. It is possible to buy used books and they serve the same purpose as new ones. Used gas is not really that good for anything.

Refinerys in the U.S. produce an X amount of gas every day. They do not produce the exact amount needed or used that day. The amount in excess they produce has to go somewhere. The gas is already here in the U.S. To send it to India or China would cost a good chunk of cash. The people in the U.S. will increase or decrease the amount of gas they buy daily. If for some reason they increase the amount of gas they buy the gas companies can charge more and sell more. If for some reason the people lower their gas buying the gas companies can't stop the refinerys as quickly. They have to lower the price to get people to buying the gas they already have produced.

Isn't diesel a by-product of gasoline? I thought that is why it was always cheaper than gas in the past. What is up with that?

Someone else more learned than I will have to explain the "why". I just deal with "what is". Somewhere along the line a few years ago everything turned wonky.

So if you're having difficulties just getting to work at these ridiculous gas prices, just extrapolate that into an independent long haul trucker paying approximately .80 cents more PER GALLON @ 10-12 miles per gallon making a 500 mile trip. Six days a week. He has the same mortgage and family expenses that you do. Plus his business taxes. And his rig costs about five times more to maintain than your car.

If it's a company paying out this money, now you know why prices are shooting up at stores everywhere and product takes longer to hit the stores.

In His Love
Mich

No, it is not.

Both are products of fractional distillation (refining), of crude oil, as are greases, heavy oils, propane, etc..

Diesel used to be much cheaper, because the demand was less.

How much should gas cost, in your opinion?

Not sheep, we just possess the ability to rationalize.

Gasoline is not really expensive, relative to time, the value of the dollar and the costs of everything else.

http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/I..._Inflation.asp

No that is not that AT ALL.
It IS higher because it HAS to be Refined even MORE now because of Yes You Guessed it The Government Regulations set by you guessed it the EPA. To LOWER emissions. THAT is the only reason why diesel is so high.
USING MORE?????
Have you seen how many truckers are OUT OF WORK, and Truck companies going Under because of NO LOADS? It use as heck isn't high because we are using more.

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Sorry AK, but i work as a truck driver for a refinery and you are incorrect, on both points.

There is a good demand for diesel and a shortage of truck drivers.


Recession-racked workers hit the road, but truck driver shortage could worsen with improved economy


http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2...-hit-the-road/





http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article...d_pricing_fro/


$5000 sign on Bonus at USA Truck

We Need Recent Student Graduates!


http://www.justtruckingjobs.com/comp...uck/index.html

Gas today was again down to $3.09 across the board in the downtown area (so a drop of 6 cents from late last night). That's part of my beef, why all at $3.09 today? It's all just a game they play. They match the price of the first guy to blink. I'm sure the new store is taking a loss but can spread it out among their 40 stores. Once they get enough customers, they will just start matching everyone else's price.

The people I know that sell gas do not sell what they have in stock for a certain % of mark up.
They sell the gas they have at the price they will have to pay to replace it.
They just happen to raise the price a lot quicker than they lower it.

I paid $2.93 at the new store tonight. I found out that they have a club card that takes another 2 cents off. The clerk claimed they will always be the lowest in town, so that should be interesting. Diesel was also way down at $3.55.

$2.91 unleaded
$3.53 diesel

$2.87 unleaded
$3.43 diesel

This is at the two chain stores. The others have all given up and are in the $2.89- $3.15 range.