High gas prices

[jjackkrash]

$2.05 at Costco last night for regular...now costing less then $20 to fill up my tank

We've seen it as low as a $1.89 in North Texas. Still costs me $40 to fill up thow.

[Calexan]

We have $1.79 as our lowest in Little Rock, AR.

[BlastRlxi]

$1.72 in the Cincinnati area. I figure I save about $53 per fill up for the Sequoia from when we were at $4.00 this past summer.

[CTSunsetter]

I too am ecstatic about the falling prices of fuel, but hope that everyone knows it's temporary? Enjoy it while it lasts!

[areamike]

I too am ecstatic about the falling prices of fuel, but hope that everyone knows it's temporary? Enjoy it while it lasts!

Yup...and the good 'ole Oil Company CARTELS will be making more production cutbacks in order to "justify" pushing prices up again.

http://www.pipelinedubai.com/press/2008/pr_08_442.html

If prices keep falling, OPEC’s president, Chakib Khelil, said the cartel would “definitely” reduce its production again in coming months, either when it meets in Algeria in December, or sooner

Edited November 12, 2008 by areamike

[hrybls]

I want to apologize for calling $2.65 gas by July. I was obviously waaaaaaay off and a couple months late.

Avg Gas Price

7/17 - $4.11

11/11 - $2.22

46% Decline

Oil per BBL

7/11 - $147

11/11 - $59

61% Decline

I was correct for a bit and now your are, but like we discussed before, unless there is a breakthrough technology, we are just adding Fuel to the fire with these low prices....no pun intended......I am in Oil country Drilling is being slashed all over. Congrats for now.

[Guest J-Ro]

I was correct for a bit and now your are, but like we discussed before, unless there is a breakthrough technology, we are just adding Fuel to the fire with these low prices....no pun intended......I am in Oil country Drilling is being slashed all over. Congrats for now.

I don't care about the gas part, I care about the calling the market bubble. I agree on the fuel on the fire part though. The only thing that will keep prices down is the worldwide drop in demand. You are correct about the alternative fuels but I think the last price increase was long enough to get the ball rolling to the point where the investors won't want to turn back and they know this is an inverted bubble (Blackhole maybe). I find it interesting gas went from the no. 1 issue in the US to the third or fourth. Luckily the lowered prices will help the consumer in the near term.

[-BS-]

I don't care about the gas part, I care about the calling the market bubble. I agree on the fuel on the fire part though. The only thing that will keep prices down is the worldwide drop in demand.

[hrybls]

I was correct for a bit and now your are, but like we discussed before, unless there is a breakthrough technology, we are just adding Fuel to the fire with these low prices....no pun intended......I am in Oil country Drilling is being slashed all over. Congrats for now.

I don't care about the gas part, I care about the calling the market bubble. I agree on the fuel on the fire part though. The only thing that will keep prices down is the worldwide drop in demand. You are correct about the alternative fuels but I think the last price increase was long enough to get the ball rolling to the point where the investors won't want to turn back and they know this is an inverted bubble (Blackhole maybe). I find it interesting gas went from the no. 1 issue in the US to the third or fourth. Luckily the lowered prices will help the consumer in the near term.

For us in Oil country, it is a double edged sword, we want high oil/gas for our local economy however is has to be low to "save the world". It still makes me laugh seeing all the auto industry T.V ad's that still focus on high gas prices... Poor, poor, GM they just can not win

[1FootDan]

0,86$ here... a liter that is... not bad from 1,50$... costs me 95$ vs 170$ this summer to fill up my tank.

[CTSunsetter]

For us in Oil country, it is a double edged sword, we want high oil/gas for our local economy however is has to be low to "save the world". It still makes me laugh seeing all the auto industry T.V ad's that still focus on high gas prices... Poor, poor, GM they just can not win

The US auto makers are f-ed and have been f-ed up for a very long time. Believe me, I don't want to see any of them fail but it's not good for the government to bail every industry out and especially one that needs a serious makeover.

I've never understand why GM keeps the Saturn brand around when it has never broken even but wouldn't build a hybrid competitor to the Prius because they couldn't make money on them? Toyota built the Prius knowing they wouldn't make money on them for years and have made them profitable by making nearly no changes on them since the first one rolled out.

Chrysler was a great American story: verge of implosion, government helps by providing a loan, they turn it around, repay the government loan early, then Daimler comes in and...

Credit card industry is next!…

Rant over.

Edited November 13, 2008 by CTSunsetter

[txwakejunkie]

We hit $1.85 gal today. Wish i could make the gas last till summer, id be buying me a 500gal tank right about now.

[johnsvt]

J-Ro is an instigator and makes for good reading most times.

Edited November 13, 2008 by johnsvt

[Guest J-Ro]

That certainly wasn't nice....true...but not nice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Looks like there is some liquidity forming in the $30 barrel price range.

[hrybls]

There sure seems to be no talk these days about those darn speculators driving the price of oil down.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

The US auto makers are f-ed and have been f-ed up for a very long time. Believe me, I don't want to see any of them fail but it's not good for the government to bail every industry out and especially one that needs a serious makeover.

I used to think this way too. Now that my very livelihood is dependent on it, and those of an estimated 3,000,000 others, I'm not so sure. I am even more conflicted as a life-long Republican to have to be thankful that Obama got elected, and that he, along with Pelosi, are fighting so hard on our behalf. Only thing I can say is that it is easy to vilify a big corporation and it's senior leadership. But there are a lot of honest, hard working people in those companies that deserve a better fate.

I've never understand why GM keeps the Saturn brand around when it has never broken even...

Believe me when I say that there is a ton of people inside the company that agree 1000%. Personally, I would like to do away with Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer. Leave only Chevy and Cadillac. Would have liked to have done it a long time ago. But as I understand the situation, it is not possible due to franchise law - GM would be subject to multiple lawsuits from dealers for failure to honor their agreements. We would go under just fighting in court. (Terminating Olds was an extremely costly process, and that was just one brand). I don't really understand why this is - any lawyers out there care to comment?

In the end, it seems we have our own double-edged sword - it might require bankruptcy to get out of these legacy anchors on our business; but bankruptcy would in all likelihood kill our business altogether.

...but wouldn't build a hybrid competitor to the Prius because they couldn't make money on them? Toyota built the Prius knowing they wouldn't make money on them for years and have made them profitable by making nearly no changes on them since the first one rolled out.

Not really defensible, no doubt.

This is an extremely uncertain time in my life - still have my job, but who knows for how long. I commented recently in another thread that I love my job, love working for GM (25 years now). I was raised in a Buick family - my dad worked there for 30 years, and there was never any doubt that was where I was going to work. For the first time in my life, I have to consider the possibility of working somewhere else. It sucks to be at the mercy of the government...

[johnsvt]

The US auto makers are f-ed and have been f-ed up for a very long time. Believe me, I don't want to see any of them fail but it's not good for the government to bail every industry out and especially one that needs a serious makeover.

I used to think this way too. Now that my very livelihood is dependent on it, and those of an estimated 3,000,000 others, I'm not so sure. I am even more conflicted as a life-long Republican to have to be thankful that Obama got elected, and that he, along with Pelosi, are fighting so hard on our behalf. Only thing I can say is that it is easy to vilify a big corporation and it's senior leadership. But there are a lot of honest, hard working people in those companies that deserve a better fate.

I've never understand why GM keeps the Saturn brand around when it has never broken even...

Believe me when I say that there is a ton of people inside the company that agree 1000%. Personally, I would like to do away with Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer. Leave only Chevy and Cadillac. Would have liked to have done it a long time ago. But as I understand the situation, it is not possible due to franchise law - GM would be subject to multiple lawsuits from dealers for failure to honor their agreements. We would go under just fighting in court. (Terminating Olds was an extremely costly process, and that was just one brand). I don't really understand why this is - any lawyers out there care to comment?

In the end, it seems we have our own double-edged sword - it might require bankruptcy to get out of these legacy anchors on our business; but bankruptcy would in all likelihood kill our business altogether.

...but wouldn't build a hybrid competitor to the Prius because they couldn't make money on them? Toyota built the Prius knowing they wouldn't make money on them for years and have made them profitable by making nearly no changes on them since the first one rolled out.

Not really defensible, no doubt.

This is an extremely uncertain time in my life - still have my job, but who knows for how long. I commented recently in another thread that I love my job, love working for GM (25 years now). I was raised in a Buick family - my dad worked there for 30 years, and there was never any doubt that was where I was going to work. For the first time in my life, I have to consider the possibility of working somewhere else. It sucks to be at the mercy of the government...

I agree with most of what you have to say Jerry. I would like to add that the GM bailout definitely needs to come with some aggresive changes starting at the top those guys had their chance and have lost 73 billion since 2004 - Rick Wagoner, Mark Lenave, etc, etc. The Saturn and Saab brand have a cult following and with some small changes in product lineup could be very succesfull. I also think that Buick, GMC and Pontiac brands are not needed any more and cost more than what they could potentially make. Lastly, GM's dealer support services needs to be run by successful people not former owners of dealerships that went out of business because they didn't understand service & sales.

I can't imagine what will happen to the auto industry if the bailout does not occur. The short term would just be a horrific financial nightmare for everyone.

[WakeGirl]

Not just the auto industry. Think of what it will do to the American psyche if Chevy goes under. I'm conflicted as well & part of me wonders like Jerry if it wouldn't be good for the company to force a reorganization of the company that it desperately needs, but I don't want to see the resulting ramifications that will take place in our economy.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

I would like to add that the GM bailout definitely needs to come with some aggresive changes starting at the top those guys had their chance and have lost 73 billion since 2004 - Rick Wagoner, Mark Lenave, etc, etc.

Can't say that I disagree. If you always do what you've always done, you're always going to get what you always got.

I can't imagine what will happen to the auto industry if the bailout does not occur. The short term would just be a horrific financial nightmare for everyone.

No doubt about it. As a slight tangent, anybody else wondering what the impact of GM going bankrupt would have on the marine industry? GM engines are used in something north of 95% of inboards & I/Os.

Edited November 14, 2008 by SunriseH2OSkier

[kent]

I would like to add that the GM bailout definitely needs to come with some aggresive changes starting at the top those guys had their chance and have lost 73 billion since 2004 - Rick Wagoner, Mark Lenave, etc, etc.

Can't say that I disagree. If you always do what you've always done, you're always going to get what you always got.

I can't imagine what will happen to the auto industry if the bailout does not occur. The short term would just be a horrific financial nightmare for everyone.

No doubt about it. As a slight tangent, anybody else wondering what the impact of GM going bankrupt would have on the marine industry? GM engines are used in something north of 95% of inboards & I/Os.

I know this will probably make alot of people upset but its plain and simple .... the unions have contributed to most of gm's financial troubles. They need to get rid of them asap !

[txwakejunkie]

I would like to add that the GM bailout definitely needs to come with some aggresive changes starting at the top those guys had their chance and have lost 73 billion since 2004 - Rick Wagoner, Mark Lenave, etc, etc.

Can't say that I disagree. If you always do what you've always done, you're always going to get what you always got.

I can't imagine what will happen to the auto industry if the bailout does not occur. The short term would just be a horrific financial nightmare for everyone.

No doubt about it. As a slight tangent, anybody else wondering what the impact of GM going bankrupt would have on the marine industry? GM engines are used in something north of 95% of inboards & I/Os.

I know this will probably make alot of people upset but its plain and simple .... the unions have contributed to most of gm's financial troubles. They need to get rid of them asap !

I AGREE!! But getting rid of them is much easier said then done!

[M3Fan]

Interesting column here on the auto maker bailout topic: How to fix a flat

[areamike]

We hit $1.85 gal today. Wish i could make the gas last till summer, id be buying me a 500gal tank right about now.

500? Heck I'm thinking a 10000 gallon tank.

$1.69 here!!!!!!!!!

[txwakejunkie]

We hit $1.85 gal today. Wish i could make the gas last till summer, id be buying me a 500gal tank right about now.

500? Heck I'm thinking a 10000 gallon tank.

$1.69 here!!!!!!!!!

Its kinda funny, My wife said to me "With the gas price going down you should drive the tahoe" Ive been driving the geo for so long now to save gas that it never crossed my mind to drive the tahoe. The only time it moves is to pull the boat.

been driving the tahoe for a week and i feel like Im cheating on the geo LOL!!!

Edited November 14, 2008 by txwakejunkie

[Guest J-Ro]

This is good money being thrown after bad. Nothing more. We are talking about billions of dollars in cash being burned each month. The money they want would maybe last them 2 years and that is if all 50b goes to GM. If GM goes BK the parts will be sold off or restructured and it will continue. All the govt. has to do is backstop GM's credit and the fat can be trimmed leaving the good parts to operate profitably (IE no more dealer agreements, no more union BS, and no more bloated employee base and legacy costs).