Why Are Gasoline & Home Heating Fuels So Expensive?

dll wrote:Let the general populace blame a single person or industry for the price swings meanwhile I am taking advantage of some great opportunities.
So far this year my oil market investment has yielded over 40% and my gold investment is up about 30%. Here is one that is not politically correct in some circles but over a two year period starting in 2005 the uranium stock “average” is up over 2,000%.

I have absolutely no problem with making a fair & legal profit. It's when you add illegality (on a vast scale) that we citizens need to start worrying. In Chicago (circa 1930's) It would have been very smart (economicaly) to invest in Al Capones gang too. (especilly if Mr. Capone was also the mayor, owned the police force & all the courts & had the legal authority to commute sentances & even pardon any gangmembers who got caught)

Maybe if Dumbocrats stopped crying , & stopped placing wildlife above all human life and allowed us to drill some new oil wells (which would have been on US soil, NOT middle eastern sand), then we might have some petroleum based fuel at a reasonable price.

NUFF SAID

SMITTY wrote:Maybe if Dumbocrats stopped crying , & stopped placing wildlife above all human life and allowed us to drill some new oil wells (which would have been on US soil, NOT middle eastern sand), then we might have some petroleum based fuel at a reasonable price.

NUFF SAID

You & I both know that there will always be some bedtime story, fairy tale or excuse usable to explain away obscenely high oil prices in the US. The fact is that the major oil companys admitt (because they have to report them to the IRS) to receiving the highest profits in the history of this country....of any industry & this, at a time when our nation is at war & our entire economy is suffering from their greed. What goods/products have not felt the sting of rising gasoline prices? ( I have always mistrusted people who proudly wear US Flag lapel pins while having no real understanding our country, our Constitution or any devotion to anything but their own well being!)

You & I both know that there will always be some story, fairy tale or excuse usable to explain away obscenely high oil prices in the US. The fact is that the major oil companys admitt (because they have to report them) to recieving the highest profits in the history of this country....of any industry & this, at a time when this nation is at war & our economy is suffering from their greed. Wearing US flag lapel pins is not patriotism!

Spoken like a true Massachusetts liberal......

The economy is NOT suffering. You must watch CNN & read every page of the local papers.

I am in the trash business -- that business is DIRECTLY driven by how well people are doing financially. Let me tell you from hands-on experience: THE ECONOMY IS FINE. The more things people buy, the more cardboard & paper enters the stream. More of those items = MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME from the general public. It's at an all-time high. I look around this state & see everyone with much more than I have. This year, I was able to buy a brand new truck for the first time in my life.

Trash doesn't hide facts for political gain.

Your complaining about oil when the medical industry is RAPING this country of every last penny

Take it easy boy's. Go have a drink and relax a bit...

Bk

Easy topic to get people going. Sort of like the ALGORE Thread....I was almost ready to post my opinion, but I think I'll hold off a bit.

SMITTY wrote:

You & I both know that there will always be some story, fairy tale or excuse usable to explain away obscenely high oil prices in the US. The fact is that the major oil companys admitt (because they have to report them) to recieving the highest profits in the history of this country....of any industry & this, at a time when this nation is at war & our economy is suffering from their greed. Wearing US flag lapel pins is not patriotism!

Spoken like a true Massachusetts liberal......

The economy is NOT suffering. You must watch CNN & read every page of the local papers.

I am in the trash business -- that business is DIRECTLY driven by how well people are doing financially. Let me tell you from hands-on experience: THE ECONOMY IS FINE. The more things people buy, the more cardboard & paper enters the stream. More of those items = MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME from the general public. It's at an all-time high. I look around this state & see everyone with much more than I have. This year, I was able to buy a brand new truck for the first time in my life.

Trash doesn't hide facts for political gain.

Your complaining about oil when the medical industry is RAPING this country of every last penny

You are of couse correct Smitty....Why should I listen to the likes of Allen Greenspan (Ex chairman of US Federal Reserve) who is concerned about a possible recession, when I can get the real truth about our economy from my local "Fox News" watching....garbageman!!
I am, of course joking here & merely responding to your "Masschusetts liberal" name calling I think grown men can keep economic policy debates civil & courteous.

SMITTY wrote:Maybe if Dumbocrats stopped crying ,

I don't mind the political discussion but please keep the insults to yourself so we keep it civil. Comments like that only cause trouble, no need for that.

Investors do not look at company profits in the terms of total dollars earned they look at it as percentage of sales. Exxon Mobil showed record profit dollars because of high sales volume however, as a percentage of sales it was only 9%, companies like Micro$oft are something double that figure, so who is really screwing the public? The main stream media like CNN love to tell you only the dollar profits, if you go to the financial news sources you will find the relative figures.

dll wrote:Investors do not look at company profits in the terms of total dollars earned they look at it as percentage of sales. Exxon Mobil showed record profit dollars because of high sales volume however, as a percentage of sales it was only 9%, companies like Micro$oft are something double that figure, so who is really screwing the public? The main stream media like CNN love to tell you only the dollar profits, if you go to the financial news sources you will find the relative figures.

Yeah........What was I thinking??? When you look at it like that you begin to sympathize with & understand the plight of the poor oil company CEO's & their families. (It's so heartbreaking turning on the evening news & watching their kids forced to panhandle in the streets, lick the filthy insides of disgarded soup cans at the dump, watch their sisters forced to turn to prostitution .....just to eat.........I for one can't take it anymore!!

I'm starting a charity for them:

the Leg-Up Expense Endowment for Ceo's of oil companys to Help Extricate them from poverty & provide Sustenance
or
L.E.E.C.H.E.S

Contact me for the address to send your donations too.(or you can simply contnue making your generous donations at the gas pump)

Wow after reading all the posts here, I just want to say ; I know where I going to build my new coal bin , right in the garage where my empty oil tank is! What those oil barons have forgotten is that once you switch , you can't/won't go back for a long time at least. What used to be the major fuel source here in the NE before WWII? Right now I'm using a 20+ yr EFEL Lion. total cost after a new High temp glass, less then $400. When I can afford it ,I'm gonna rip out my rusted and on it's last legs oil burner and replace it with a modern coal furnace that can also tie into my existing hot water baseboard system. The thing I like best about how I have been heating my house this last week is that the floors are warm. Right now this little hand fired coal sipping stove is alot of work, but at least I'm not at the mercy of the market! Which will , just like the housing, and stock, and dot.com and ... come crashing down. Excuse me, I need to get my chain saw out and cut some wood, which I'm gonna need when it gets really cold. Anyone ever try building an electric commuter car using a retrofit kit and deep cycle batteries? It's time to declare energy independence fron King George !

Devil,

Don't look now but there is a black helicopter hovering over your house. Better put the aluminum foil back on your head so they can't read your thoughts. Oil and its derivitives are a world commodity and world wide demand is at an all time high. Energy prices have been held artificially low in the US for years! Ever travel out of the country?. We're now being made to adjust to world prices due to the high demand.

coalkirk wrote:Devil,

Don't look now but there is a black helicopter hovering over your house. Better put the aluminum foil back on your head so they can't read your thoughts. Oil and its derivitives are a world commodity and world wide demand is at an all time high. Energy prices have been held artificially low in the US for years! Ever travel out of the country?. We're now being made to adjust to world prices due to the high demand.

Adjusts the aluminum foil on his head.....

Hey!!!....Not only does it stop them from reading my thoughts.......It lets me see clearly into the future!!:

I can clearly see......................Yes there it is: a sudden, unexplicable yet major drop in US gasoline & home heating oil prices just before next November's election & then a quick, steep rise again, after the election!! Damn those legitimate market forces!

Collapses back into his chair...Spent from the mental exertion required to see into the future.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

What is the profit margin on coal? Higher than gasoline? Lower than Windows?

If the coal man has a 10% profit margin, all he has to do is sell, oh, I don't know, several hundreds of millions of tons of coal, per quarter, and suddenly he will become an "evil coal company".

Is there any greater indictment of education today than a conversation about oil companies' profits?

At one time coal companies were considered evil

An often overlooked factor in the rise of oil prices is the *major* decline in the value of our dollar. We buy oil in the open market with US dollars, which since 2001 have become worth-less. To make it politically viable, we financed 'the war on terror' without raising taxes (or instituting a draft). We print money, sell treasuries(deficit spending) and drop interest rates at the first sign of a hiccup. Charting our deficit or the decline of the dollar vs. the Euro ( /USDEUR ) makes it painfully clear where we are heading.

I'm glad I heat with coal !!!