aaahhh to be in the petroleum business....

I love it when liberals complain about the price of oil and gas, but at the same time wonder why we haven't signed onto the Kyoto Protocol. Don't they understand the only way to get folks to cut their carbon footprint is to increase the price of carbon based fuels? At these prices maybe even Al Gore has cut his massive carbon footprint just a tad. If you're not worried about carbon emissions and just want to run your 15 mpg SUV as much as you want, then why don't you support more exploration? By the way, oil is a commodity and the price is determined by the market, and not by oil company execs or even by G.W. Bush. The way I deal with the rising prices is A. To realize the inevitability of sky high prices for oil and gas, that will increase higher and higher over the next few years despite whatever action is taken in Washington and B. I invest heavily in the energy sector in order to capitalize on this inevitability.

By the way, I will give you the gift of a stock tip, no way you can loose. GIFI buy all you can as long as it is available under $35/ share and hold it until it is at least $50/ share. It is down due to irrational hurricane damage fears. It will have a down quarter and may take 6 months to get to $50.

Ed.
 
Can someone more educated than me explain this to me? Light sweet crude oil fell again, closing at $98.75. Gasoline futures fell again to $2.6563.

Yet, I witnessed pump prices go from $3.39 to $4.59 at a station by my house in one day.

I understand that there was a storm and a few platforms were damaged, but according to those in the business, prices are set by the market. Well, seems to me that the market is trending down, counter to the blanket excuse given to explain price raises of over $1 in a single day.

When prices go up, it's the speculators (and this I can accept, with the way oil prices rocketed the past couple of years), but when the speculators get out and oil/gas future prices start falling, where is the justification for retail pump prices???
 
Good stuff.

There is a thing called greed...many are guilty of that, and have been in the past, those in government and in private sectors. The largest instance of greed, nowadays though, is big government. And if Obama gets elected, you'll see what greed really is, and he'll subdue the masses with another socialist re-distribution check or two, while his friends and cohorts, democrat and Republican in congress, continue to line their pockets with more big cash and big spending, and all of the "hard working innovators, income producers, and generators" get soaked.

McCain says he'll change things and I want to believe him, but not sure he'll be able to, even if he tries...we may or may not find out.

Tax rates greater than 15% for anyone is what true greed really is, especially when 40% of the "poor" pay federal no taxes at all. We need to kick them all out!

Hitch
 
Jon, Great points. I can't speak to every market across the US but here is what happens in ours. In the past months we have witnessed incredible daily up & downs in the NYMEX. This complicates the management of any fuel business several fold. As costs rise, margins go down because the retail price never goes up as much as the cost increases in the same time frame. We have had many days when costs go up 5-12 cents in a half-day. If you got product before the price went up, you see no reason to raise your price. Those that bought in the afternoon, are losing money on every sale because they need to be competitive. Remember, we are talking about margins in the 10 cent range before credit card fees which are 2.5%. The reverse also happens. When th eprices drop, there is also a lag in the price going down due to the timing of the purchasing of loads. In normal years, the time frame in which the price has risen dramatically has been short so it is easier to absorb short-term losses This has continued for months. The recent continual climb has left retailers with record low profits. It isn't therefore too surprising that the drop at the pump will need a few weeks to be truly seen at the pump.
Hurricanes create mini-segments of markets where product can't be acquired due to shutdowns in the supply chain. This can create a separation in pricing from the NYMEX known as a basis-blowout where the lack of locally available product cuases huge price changhes in one market and nothin gin another.
As long as the dollar remains strong, (down this AM) and the investment dollars aren't poured back into the NYMEX. (Lehman folds this AM and stock market players are scared, where will their money be invested?) We are posed to see a continued slide in crude, perhaps into the mid-80's by the fourth quarter.
We dodged a bullet with Ike in the petro sector. Best wishes to all that weren't so fortunate.
JH
 
This just in: copied from the Wall Street Journal: Watch, there will be a lawsuit and then they'll quietly settle this winter... meanwhile, someone has some guts.




The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Sunday that it won't allow the companies to make "golden parachute" severance payments to the mortgage companies' ousted chief executive officers.
In a statement, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said such payments wouldn't be made to Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron, despite provisions in their contracts. Mr. Mudd served as chief executive of Fannie and Mr. Syron was chairman and CEO of Freddie until last weekend, when the regulator seized control of the companies, saying they were in danger of running out of capital.
News reports that the two executives stood to receive millions of dollars in severance payments under their contracts triggered public protests from numerous politicians and inspired political cartoons in newspapers.
The FHFA cited "applicable statute and regulation" for its decision. The regulator has taken management control of the two companies under a legal process known as "conservatorship," which could last for years while Fannie and Freddie are restored to financial health. The U.S. Treasury has pledged to provide as much capital as the companies need to continue in their role as the main suppliers of funding for home mortgages.
The FHFA last week named Herb Allison as CEO at Fannie and David Moffett as CEO at Freddie.
Spokesmen for Fannie and Freddie declined to comment on the pay decision. Messrs. Syron and Mudd couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top