Got Gas? U.S. Economy to Worsen as Gas Prices Skyrocket

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xenolith

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2000
1,588
0
76
Just remember, prices at the gas pump are not the only thing that's painful.

Yesterday, I paid $78.72 at the grocery store for just a week's worth of food (I'm single and so always buy the same thing from the same store). It rarely went above $60 for me every week just last month.

And try to buy #2 residential heating oil... $699.80 for two hundred gallons today... OUCH! I thought $579.80 in January was painful. I had to put this on my credit card for the first time -- ever! Thank God the warm season is coming, just so I can take a breather.

This shit sucks!
 
Engineer

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
$105 ($104.97) on the close today. So much for oil going back down. With help from the oil (transportation) increases, food jumped the highest amount (4.9%) in 50 years last month. I believe that oil was a major catalyst in crashing the economy in 2007-2009 and I believe it will do it again soon enough. We won't learn....
 
bamacre

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
81
Not a catalyst, a symptom.

When oil drops again, it will for the same reason, the economy is tanking again. Oil will go higher as long as the economy is seen as recovering.
 
Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
bamacre said:
Not a catalyst, a symptom.

When oil drops again, it will for the same reason, the economy is tanking again. Oil will go higher as long as the economy is seen as recovering.
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Probably both, in fact. Increase in oil appears to be causal for most of the recessions in recent years, not just a symptom. However, with speculation raising its cost excessively in 2008 and bubble bursting combined with a recession that suppresses demand there was definitely a recession contributing to how low it go.
Yesterday, I paid $78.72 at the grocery store for just a week's worth of food (I'm single and so always buy the same thing from the same store). It rarely went above $60 for me every week just last month.
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I think it's safe to say grocery prices haven't gone up 30% in a month. Probably you bought more sushi this time :)
 
X

xenolith

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2000
1,588
0
76
Doppel said:
I think it's safe to say grocery prices haven't gone up 30% in a month. Probably you bought more sushi this time :)
Click to expand...

Every week I buy raw, frozen wild Alaskan pink salmon, and last month it was $7.98/lb... today $10.68/lb. Red peppers were $2.98/lb... today $2.48 each (each weigh about 1/2 lb.). Vine-ripe tomatoes were $1.78/lb... today $2.48/lb. Avocados were $1/ea... today $1.48/ea. Cucumbers were $.88/ea... today $1.28/ea... etc.

Except for spices, tea, and cocoa powder, I only shop what is called "the perimeter" - raw produce, raw meat, raw fish, and dairy... nothing "processed." I don't know how it is for people who buy Cheez-its, Oreos, Cheerios, and Top-Ramen, prices probably have gone down for you. :)

I'm definitely planting a garden this year.
 
W

wirednuts

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2007
7,121
4
0
ive seen a nearly 30% increase on a lot of my food too. a pound of meat that was $2.86 a few months ago is now over $5, and that makes a huge difference week to week.

cheese is way up too. pretty much all the foods that have to be trucked in with short shelf lives... youre gonna be paying a lot more. a lot more then fuel prices have risen too, go figure.
 
WhipperSnapper

WhipperSnapper

Lifer
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
xenolith said:
Except for spices, tea, and cocoa powder, I only shop what is called "the perimeter" - raw produce, raw meat, raw fish, and dairy... nothing "processed." I don't know how it is for people who buy Cheez-its, Oreos, Cheerios, and Top-Ramen, prices probably have gone down for you. :)

I'm definitely planting a garden this year.
Click to expand...

In other words, the prices for real food and not processed crap has increased. It was expensive to shop the perimeter before, anyway. And of course, beef prices have gone insane.

The higher food and gasoline prices are going to wallop the poor and the lower middle class. They'll probably slap the debt-ridden middle class, too. Maybe our Congressmen will finally see the wisdom of taxing the wealthy to help spread some of the pain.
 
D

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
3-23-2011

http://www.suntimes.com/4457988-502/5-a-gallon-for-gas-get-ready-experts-say.html

$5 a gallon for gas? Get ready, experts say

If gasoline prices approaching $4 a gallon are draining your wallet, brace yourself. Oil industry experts say gas prices could hit $5 a gallon — possibly before summer.

“It’s creating a situation where we could see the price of oil go up to $150 a barrel and gasoline toward $5 a barrel,” said Phil Flynn, an oil industry analyst with Chicago-based PFGBest.

Prices are likely to be steeper in the city than other regions, Flynn said.


“In Chicago, the odds are higher because the summertime blends of gasoline are more expensive,’’ he said. “Our taxes are higher. So it is more likely that it’s going to happen here before it happens in other parts of the country.”


“Expect $5 a gallon gas by Memorial Day,” said Bob van der Valk, fuel price analyst with 4Refuel Inc., a Canadian fuel management firm.

U.S. pump prices will eventually hit record highs
 
Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
^^^ Funny how he only posts articles linking to oil prices when they're on their way up and never down.

Gas won't hit $5 in 2011 because demand will implode, disallowing it.
 
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
WhipperSnapper said:
In other words, the prices for real food and not processed crap has increased. It was expensive to shop the perimeter before, anyway. And of course, beef prices have gone insane.

The higher food and gasoline prices are going to wallop the poor and the lower middle class. They'll probably slap the debt-ridden middle class, too. Maybe our Congressmen will finally see the wisdom of taxing the wealthy to help spread some of the pain.
Click to expand...

The insane spike in pretty much all commodities recently, and only coincidentally at the same time that we are monetizing the debt with QE1, QE2, and I bet QE3, has absolutely nothing to do with it.
 
werepossum

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
Darwin333 said:
The insane spike in pretty much all commodities recently, and only coincidentally at the same time that we are monetizing the debt with QE1, QE2, and I bet QE3, has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
LOL +1

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
 
WhipperSnapper

WhipperSnapper

Lifer
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
$5/gallon by Memorial Day seems a little far-fetched, but $4/gallon might be realistic if the Middle East strike continues.
 
Matt1970

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
Doppel said:
^^^ Funny how he only posts articles linking to oil prices when they're on their way up and never down.

Gas won't hit $5 in 2011 because demand will implode, disallowing it.
Click to expand...

That is exacly what happened a couple years ago.
 
ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,572
126
xenolith said:
Every week I buy raw, frozen wild Alaskan pink salmon, and last month it was $7.98/lb... today $10.68/lb. Red peppers were $2.98/lb... today $2.48 each (each weigh about 1/2 lb.). Vine-ripe tomatoes were $1.78/lb... today $2.48/lb. Avocados were $1/ea... today $1.48/ea. Cucumbers were $.88/ea... today $1.28/ea... etc.

Except for spices, tea, and cocoa powder, I only shop what is called "the perimeter" - raw produce, raw meat, raw fish, and dairy... nothing "processed." I don't know how it is for people who buy Cheez-its, Oreos, Cheerios, and Top-Ramen, prices probably have gone down for you. :)

I'm definitely planting a garden this year.
Click to expand...

vegetables have gone way up due to freezes in the south and mexico this year. prices should start easing soon.
 
D

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
$106

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oi...es-crude-near-106-2011-03-24?siteid=rss&rss=1

With oil now breaking through $106 a barrel and no end in sight to conflicts in Libya, Syria and elsewhere, Wall Street is bidding up shares of many energy companies.

Oppenheimer analysts warned that a major supply disruption in the Middle East could propel oil prices above the record of $148 a barrel set in 2008

Just about a month ago, oil was near $85 a barrel.
 
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