Gas Prices

:rofl: Whatever, man. What we're talking about has basically nothing to do with you, but thanks for injecting yourself into it.
 
[quote name='silentevil']Yes I am evil because I invest. I also invested in a company that is working on turning switch grass to ethenol. I honestly like the idea of hydrogen except the fact that auto makers and government are leaning towards having hydrogen fueling stations instead of vehicles that produce their own hho. 2nd I'm not rich nor have I ever been. I'm a working college student and was raised by a single mom. I learned long ago to make my money work for me. If not wanting to be broke makes me evil so be it, but at the same time I think the person who says I should limit my income to be fair to others is evil. Investing is open to anyone. I'm suprised more people don't do it.[/QUOTE]

You have a very low standard for what is evil. Hitler must be super super super super duper evil.

Edit- So no one misunderstands, this was just a joke. JOKE.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='silentevil']Oh ok so when I invest I should buy high and sell low at a loss so society will gain .0000000001% back? Should I give my tenants free rent too? I mean obviously I purchased the condos they live in under market value because someone else couldn't pay their bills. Does that make me to blame for the housing market too? Clearly you are delusional.

FYI I volunteer with special needs kids every Saturday and donate plenty of money to charities.

I invest so obviously I'm the most evil man in the world. Don't worry if I have grandkids some day I'll be sure to tell them the reason the world is sooooo horrible is because their grandfather bought and sold oil futures.

You claimed to be a teacher in a different thread. So I assume you have a 401k I can almost guarantee your 401k administrator at sometime has put money into oil futures.[/QUOTE]

I volunteer at a soup kitchen, so I get to kick you in the dick twice a week.

I asked of the logic of profiting from oil futures - if we're exalting unfettered free market capitalism, we're exalting the idea of it - that your activity here provides benefits to society. Not your overall activity, but specifically investing in futures. Where would investing in commodities and derivatives have fit in the classic cartoon, "Make Mine Capitalism?"

At least Ayn Rand embraced work and effort; you're patting yourself on the back for wanking off and calling it "hard work."
 
[quote name='silentevil']Every time I speak to someone about investing I get treated like I'm some stuck up snob. It is one of the few things that aggravates me. I worked for everything I have. I work 40+ hours a week now and go to school full time. I'm in my mid 20s own my own condo and two others that I rent. Guess what two of those were foreclosed when I bought them so I got very very good deals on them. Guess what when I can double or triple my money I may sell them. I have investments in a bunch of different places. I usually buy oil commodities mid fall when they are cheaper and sell mid summer when they are high. It's free money. I pay plenty of taxes on it but it's free. And no I don't use e-trade I use scottrade. Similar to e-trade though, I like online trading much easier to keep track of things.

Also if you want to save money over all get rid of corn based ethanol. Corn based ethanol has caused the price of corn to skyrocket and as a result groceries are rising in price too.[/QUOTE]
It's not the talk about investing that makes you sound like a douchebag; it's sounding like a douchebag that makes you sound like a douchebag.

When we talk about speculators, we're not talking about some 2-bit Gordon Gecko wannabe with 20k in an etrade account, we're talking about people with hundreds of millions manipulating the market.
 
I just got it, he thinks that some day he may be one. It's the same thing with the poor not wanting the rich taxed at a higher rate, because some day they may be one. This is why he's taking it so personally.
 
[quote name='Clak']I just got it, he thinks that some day he may be one. It's the same thing with the poor not wanting the rich taxed at a higher rate, because some day they may be one. This is why he's taking it so personally.[/QUOTE]
Well duh :lol:

There's nothing wrong with investing in the broad sense. It's when you contribute to the f*cking with of people's livelyhoods to make a buck that it becames a major issue.
 
[quote name='Clak']I just got it, he thinks that some day he may be one. It's the same thing with the poor not wanting the rich taxed at a higher rate, because some day they may be one. This is why he's taking it so personally.[/QUOTE]

a temporarily displaced millionaire, eh?
 
[quote name='dohdough']It's not the talk about investing that makes you sound like a douchebag; it's sounding like a douchebag that makes you sound like a douchebag.

When we talk about speculators, we're not talking about some 2-bit Gordon Gecko wannabe with 20k in an etrade account, we're talking about people with hundreds of millions manipulating the market.[/QUOTE]

good to see you got your sense of humor back, you had me worried for a bit.
 
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-0...in-spite-of-sharp-increase-in-u.s.-production

fucking facts and their liberal bias!!

So we aren't drilling off shore as much, but field production is currently at ~95% of 2000 when Bush Jr. took office and at 111% of 2008 when Obama took office. So, evil anti-oil Obama is actually producing MORE oil than what was being produced at the start of his term. Walter Tango Foxtrot you say? Indeed. Oh and the reason that offshore oil permits stopped for nearly a year? Well never mind drilling new test wells that are unfounded, only predicted, existing wells are producing 1.6 million barrels per day which is an all time high.

What you read there is basically that the GLOBAL MARKET is responsible for the price of crude oil, the high price you pay at the pump is related to that and the refining/production/delivery/maintenance costs. The station itself where you fuel up makes between 3 cents (minimum profit allowed) and 8 cents per gallon. Exxon makes about 2 cents per gallon, federal and state taxes are up to 60 cents per gallon (combined). So that's 70 cents per gallon on a national average hovering just below $4 right now. Just for shiggles let's call gas @ $3.85 per gallon, production costs are therefore ~80% of what you're paying.
 
[quote name='nasum']
So we aren't drilling off shore as much, but field production is currently at ~95% of 2000 when Bush Jr. took office and at 111% of 2008 when Obama took office.[/QUOTE]

Just curious, what's the comparison in world-wide usage between when Obama took office and now?
 
Drove a good bit around the metro area here today running errands. Gas prices are all over the map around here. Cheapest I saw was $3.74 a bit north of the city. Highest was $4.05 by an interstate on ramp in the city.
 
$35 today to fill up my car, and I drive a Nissan Versa for crying out loud. Was $20-$25 a month or so ago.
 
Yeah it cost me around $45 to fill up my Mazda 3 the other day (low fuel light was on, so full tank purchase)--was around $30 a couple months ago.

Thankfully, as I said before, I have a short commute so I only have to fill up once a month or so.
 
Or I'll buy a motorcycle, fill up for $10 and go as far as my car goes on $30.

UB: I would imagine it's still running around 100-115% though I have no idea where to find such a thing.
 
Now way I'd ride a motorcycle around here. In a city sure, but around here I'd probably get run over by some redneck in his dual axel truck.
 
[quote name='nasum']UB: I would imagine it's still running around 100-115% though I have no idea where to find such a thing.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was just wondering... it wouldn't matter if production was 200% of when Obama took office if world-wide usage is up 500% or something. Part of the reason we're being told prices are high is because demand is high... so without seeing what demand is, it is hard to make the judgement call on that one.
 
[quote name='HotShotX']Gas Prices Debate summed up for all time:

"You'll bitch about it and pay it anyway".

~HotShotX[/QUOTE]

Yep. Like I said before, it didn't hurt my budget that much back in grad school in 2008 when I made less than than half of what I do now, and I drive less now than then.

So I'll bitch a little, but for me it's $10-15 a month extra which isn't a big deal in the grad scheme of things.

I live in the city, but public transit is terrible here. It takes me around 15 minutes to drive in with all the traffic lights, takes a minimum of 45 to take the subway, even longer to take the bus. And I'm lucky to even have the subway as an option with only a 10 minute walk to it as the Subway is crap in the city (not enough stops, basically just a plus sign through the city) as it was designed more to get people from the suburbs into the city than to move people around all over the city. Plus it would cost me more a month to take it to work everyday than what I pay for gas even at current prices.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd LOVE to take public trans, My commute is 30 min. I take 3 different freeways to get there... It's about 25 mi. each way. I could take the bus I suppose, but it would take probably upwards of 1-2 hrs. to or from work. There is no train that I know of, the bus would probably not be a direct route. Motorcycle? I choose LIFE lets jut put it that way, they don't call it a brain bucket for nothing. Bicycle? uh... I bike a lot, have done a couple century rides but yeah... it would take most of the day to get there and back. I'd also be riding home at 12am. which I don't think any bus or train would be running then either.

I am "lucky" enough to have a co-worker live near me. I drive because I DO NOT trust his ass at the wheel. There are a bunch of other things I dislike about him, but getting $5 a trip is nice and he said if gas goes up he'll give me more money. I do this twice a week. I could be doing 4 times a week, but he'd drive me insane by then. 2 days is just enough.
 
[quote name='Moop']Yeah, Im not entirely sure how much the difference is, but I do think lots of things are generally more expensive and the average wage is more than over your side. I shall investigate a little.


Minimum wage over here is £5.95 (I think), My rent is £52 a week (2 bedroom flat), which is at the low end for my area.
I think you could say milk averages out at £1 per litre so £4.55 per gallon.

Eggs are all over the place, cause you can get cheap ass caged hen eggs at maybe £1 for 12, or 6 Organic run free where-ever they like, hen eggs for £3.
From what I remember of my time in the USA, food in stores was generally more expensive than over here, but mcDonalds and stuff like that was cheaper as well as house prices and other stuff.
Then I suppose you'd need to take into account the NHS over here (free health care) and stuff like that (free prescriptions).
I think we might get quite a lot of free/cheap stuff compared to the USA but I don't know that much about the US equivalent services.

However as far as I can find out, the average salary is around £28,000 in Scotland(2008 so may be a bit lower now) so that's about $46,200 which as far as I know is maybe around $4,000 higher than the apparent average in the USA.

If I was making the average wage however, I wouldn't be in the competition and free stuff area on this forum every 30 minutes like I am now. :bouncy:....actually I probably would.


but anyway that way of subject now, just thought I'd whack that down, as I am quite interested in the difference between here and where you are. (or anyone else for that matter)[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the reply, it’s a bit of interesting info. See that some of the problem with comparisons. Land and housing vary so much even within our cities it’s crazy and depends on a lot of things. The easier things for me to compare are milk, eggs, etc.

Our insurance also varies on what people are getting and their location, etc. I know that for medical for my wife and me it’s a bit over $1000 a month ($1058 I just looked). I don’t pay that, but that is what I do and I administer it here at my office for our 35 or so employees. So it’s a small group plan with $30 office visits and a smaller deductible $20 generic and $40 or $60 brand copay for prescriptions. Its technically a high deductible plan ($2500 per single $5000 per family) and we reimburse the deductible so the cost for 2 employees is actually much more than the $1058 per month.


On the milk thing there is a price war still going on in our region and it may be wider spread than that. It’s about $2.50-$3.00 a gallon most times however. That is lower than a few years ago. On eggs it’s the same we can sometimes catch a dozen eggs at $1 but it’s normally a bit over that and as much as $4-$5 if you do the free range, etc.

Gas is up to $4.30 a gallon here today for regular, but there are some places that will line up the cars by dropping it even $0.05 it’s a joke for the time they spend in line..
Income taxes are probably another consideration that needs to be looked at, as it probably varies from place to place and could affect the actual net income for comparisons.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/the-price-of-oil-in-euros/

fredgraph.png


lolllllllllll at all you inflation hawks.
 
:D

No chance in hell of that. It will be a slow decline from here on as gas prices lag behind oil prices, and gas stations will keep the prices up as long as they can to keep milking us.
 
Yeah, prices have went up here as well. Was $4.05 at my regular station last week, was $4.15 today. Thankfully I gassed up a couple weeks ago when it was $3.85 and still have 3/4ths tank or so. Hopefully it will drop some before I need to gas up again.

With some luck I'll make it until June without needing to fill up as I'll be out of the country the first 3 weeks of June and prices should definitely be down by the time I get back from what I've read.
 
I missed the ten cent jump, but the nice people at the kwik trip dropped off a stack of coupons this morning (mostly for inside stuff but there is a twenty cent off coupon if you spend $5 in store as well) so it looks like I end up ahead a dollar and get a free lunch too!
 
For all my fellow conservatives that are complaiing about gas prices, don't worry...those corporations will trickle that wealth back down to us. Happy times are coming!!![/troll]
 
Thank goodness Republicans are looking out for our best interests.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/18/eric-cantor-oil-speculators/

EXCLUSIVE: Eric Cantor Promises Oil Speculators That Republicans Will Block Financial Regulations

Yesterday morning, House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) visited the Chicago headquarters of the CME Group, “the world’s largest owner and operator” of private exchanges for derivatives products. CME Group specializes in a number of markets, including trading futures contracts for various blends of crude oil and food commodities. Cantor met with executives, and at one point, gave brief remarks before CME Group employees and various commodity speculators.

Cantor told the audience of speculators that his Republican caucus would “do our part” to block the implementation of financial reforms passed last year as part of the sweeping Dodd-Frank law. He even called out the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulators in charge of overseeing derivatives and energy speculation, and promised to stop regulations from going online:

CANTOR: And you’ve managed to be able to serve that function in the CME Group for so much of this country and the world, and you’ve also managed to position as a true world leader. We want that in every arena. We want to help you continue to lead for America, that means we gotta do our part when you see the implementation of Dodd-Frank coming at you like a barreling train. We want to help control that so that we can get some sensible, sensible follow up to that legislation. [...] Whether it’s the EPA, the FDA, the FCC, the SEC, the CFTC, you name it, there is an acronym for a federal agency causing harm right now. We’re trying to pull that in.
Click to expand...
 
Deregulation; Keeping CA in a state of rolling brownouts! More of that please.

Don't worry though, Ron Paul can shoot lasers at the moon from his eyes so gas prices will go down while simultaneously raising profits!
 
No kidding, nasum. Anybody who doesn't believe that Enron was single-handedly responsible for causing the brownouts in order to artificially boost the price of energy is out of their mind. Similarly, anyone who thinks the government was responsible for the Enron scandal and not, say, the company's law-breaking policies and their absurd use of mark-to-market accounting in order to balance their books is either (1) not paying attention or (2) from outer space.

Ken Lay got off too easy.
 
And apparently there'e another push to get rid of Sarbanes Oxley as well. It reminds me of "rules are really just guidelines" thing from the first Pirates movie.

To be fair though, it wasn't just Enron. The accounting firm's complicity and Gov Pete Wilson's (guess which party!) loosening of the rules really fucked over the people of CA. That whole Scott Walker BS Bill in WI actually does something very similar in lettling the public utilities be purchased privately, while the public still has to run it. This creates a greater loss, but at least they're now private employees out of the filthy public union!
Being a border buddy with WI, I simply cannot fucking wait until they start getting fucked over by the non-headline portions of that law. Reasonable people will have no choice but to burn Scott Walker effigies in the streets.
 
Gas prices have finally started coming down around here. The one I usually use was $4.15 the last couple of weeks, down to $3.99 now.
 
[quote name='nasum']Being a border buddy with WI, I simply cannot fucking wait until they start getting fucked over by the non-headline portions of that law. Reasonable people will have no choice but to burn Scott Walker effigies in the streets.[/QUOTE]

Yup, things are pretty awful here, and worse news seems to come out, literally, every single day regarding that motherfucker's monstrous agenda. I know it's terrible, but I'm seriously pulling for someone to blow his fucking brains out at this point.
 
[quote name='nasum']And apparently there'e another push to get rid of Sarbanes Oxley as well.[/QUOTE]

Holy shit, really? Which politicians are behind that push?
 
Newt was looking to get rid of it in 2008 and has stated that he will if elected in 2012
Ron Paul has criticized it openly
CATO Institute has lobbied to get rid of it

For whatever reason I can't remember the name of the guy, but Rush was praising him on Wednesday as I was pulling into the gas station... He's a senator along the eastern seaboard, I know that much...

Kirin, hey, at least you can buy a fucking beer on Sunday. We're closer to having our LC's open on Sunday but it's seuch a hassle. The cities that still have municipal LCs are steeply opposed but I see no reason that anyone that owns and/or operates an LC shouldn't be able to decide to keep their store closed on a Sunday if they want to. The law says you can't be open now, but the better law is that you can be open whenever you want and closed if you so desire. One of those instances where the free market actually does apply and makes a lot of sense.
 
[quote name='nasum']
Kirin, hey, at least you can buy a fucking beer on Sunday. We're closer to having our LC's open on Sunday but it's seuch a hassle. The cities that still have municipal LCs are steeply opposed but I see no reason that anyone that owns and/or operates an LC shouldn't be able to decide to keep their store closed on a Sunday if they want to. The law says you can't be open now, but the better law is that you can be open whenever you want and closed if you so desire. One of those instances where the free market actually does apply and makes a lot of sense.[/QUOTE]

My state just passed a law allowing Sunday alcohol sales, but nothing is in effect yet as the state just made it up to local governments on whether to allow it in their cities/counties.

It doesn't really bother me anyway as it's easy enough to buy beer/liquor on another day of the week if I want to drink on Sundays. Plus restaurants and bars are still open so you can still go out to the sports bar to drink and watch football on Sundays or whatever.

But it is a stupid law. People are still bitching that it will increase DUIs and domestic violence etc. Bunch of BS. I doubt there will be any spike in that stuff as people who want to drink just by their beer before Sunday or go out and drink on Sunday (which probably increases DUI since they can't buy alcohol and take it home to drink on Sundays).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top