Re: Doonesbury 3 Aug: 133 C Street?

JC Dill wrote:
Dann wrote:
On Aug 7, 12:28 pm, JC Dill <jcdill.li...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

(For an excellent example, notice how fast gas prices go up when the
wholesale cost of oil goes up, but how slow it comes down when the
wholesale cost of oil goes down.)

http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx

Close. Although it is an excellent example of how mistaken
misconceptions about free market economics can permeate a culture and
displace the facts.

Take a look at the chart at the attached link. Make sure you check
the box to show oil prices. Play around with the time domain for the
graph.

Obviously retail gas costs more per gallon than wholesale oil, but the chart is laid out so the oil price is "higher" than the gas price, which is obviously wrong. Gas companies made HUGE profits when the gas prices went up in 2007-2008, yet the chart makes it look like their costs went thru the ceiling instead - obviously the chart is wrong.

As the actual average prices show, gas prices rise and fall with the
general trend of oil prices. They don't follow the daily spikes.

More later if I've got a chance.

Take a look at diesel prices - why is diesel, which is less complicated and expensive to refine, priced at $0.30 to $0.60 more than unleaded, when it used to be priced at a similar amount LESS than unleaded? Can you say "market manipulation" boys and girls? They take refineries out of production so they create an artificial shortage to justify the higher prices. Every time they raise prices it's because they had to "change the formula" to summer gas, or winter gas. Somehow the new formula is always more expensive, they never lower prices when they change back.

jc
Cost of feedstock and production is close to irrelevant. Gas and diesel is priced based on what the market will bear. Stations base the posted price on what it will cost to refill the tanks and what the guy down the street is selling for, not what they paid to fill the tanks a week ago. If the oil companies couldn't make their production costs, they would stop shipping gas, at least until Washington started using the Nationalization word.

Gas got cheaper last winter because people stopped buying it, because they were in a panic over the economy. Now that people have calmed down a little, and the stock market is showing a faint pulse, gas prices are trending up again.

There is no right to cheap gas. When it was 4 bucks a gallon, I drove less, and used the little car. At 1.60 (about where it bottomed out here a few months ago), I started thinking about road trips again. Too bad I didn't get around to it.

--
aem sends...

.

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