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

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dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
7-8-2011

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110708/BUSINESS/107080372/1003/BUSINESS

Gas prices expected to dampen new car sales


"Gas prices definitely slowed down traffic," said Bob Page, a Toyota dealer in Southfield, Mich. "It took all the disposable income and wrung it out of them. I saw it in terms of employees bringing lunches to work."

June new car sales slowed to an annual pace of 11.4 million, the industry's slowest rate since June 2010.

Although gas prices are down from their peak in early May, Americans paid about $122.3 billion to fuel their vehicles from April through June, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

That is $26.3 billion more than in the same period of 2010.

"Consumers spent about $50 billion more on motor fuel in the first half of 2011," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for OPIS. "If we see prices average $3.25 per gallon during the second half of the year, the bill would be $226 billion versus $195 billion in the second half, for a total year-on-year increase of $81 billion."

The second is a decline in the number of all vehicles on the road.

Since 2008, Americans have scrapped 2.1 million more vehicles than they have replaced with new ones.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
7-10-11

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-b...0.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

How bad is it? Pawn shops, payday lenders are hot


As the jobless rate inches up and the economic recovery sputters, investors looking for a few good stocks may want to follow the money -- or rather the TV, the beloved Fender guitar, the baubles from grandma, the wedding ring.

Profits at pawn shop operator Ezcorp Inc. have jumped by an average 46 percent annually for five years. The stock has doubled from a year ago, to about $38.

Desperation stocks continue to be lifted by a drumbeat of bad news. Consumer spending, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for two months in a row -- the first back-to-back fall since November 2009.

On Friday, the government reported the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent in June, sending stocks in tailspin.

On top of that, one in seven Americans now live below the poverty line, a 17-year high.

They probably are shopping at Dollar General Corp. Stock in the discount retailer recently hit $34.13, up 50 percent from its IPO in late 2009.

"People are broke. They're all chasing value. It's a seismic shift in mindset," he says.

Some experts think these down-and-out stocks are just as likely to fall now instead of rise. It's not that they think the recovery will turn brisk and people will get jobs and shop elsewhere. It's that things could get worse -- making customers too poor to borrow or buy even from these outfits. Rent-A-Center, the furniture store, is already suffering.

Some of its core low-income shoppers have seen money they would have spent leasing a couch or cocktail table eaten up by rising food and fuel bills.

But not to despair. According to Nick Mitchell, an analyst at Northcoast Research, wealthier customers, say those making $45,000, are feeling so strapped lately that they're starting to rent furniture, too.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
and his article was about Kansas... he had to go to Kansas to find an article... no mainstream press or anything.... Kansas.


Your point being?

You didn't quote his article so I didn't know specifically what you were talking about. You said gas prices were falling but your article states that nationally, they are rising. Mine is rising again (sadly).

Keep these damn high prices (or going higher) and we'll be right back to 2007-2008 in starting a crash of the economy again (not quite as bad this time as no housing bubble but the potential is still there).

That's the point being!!!
 

Lanyap

Elite Member
Dec 23, 2000
8,284
2,380
136
Payday lender, check cashing and title loan places have been popping up frequently in my area and I live in what's considered middle to upper class area south of Birmingham. Even the regional banks are starting to provide some of these services.

Heard an ad on the radio the other day from a title loan company that was telling people to get a title loan to take a vacation if they didn't have enough money.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
Payday lender, check cashing and title loan places have been popping up frequently in my area and I live in what's considered middle to upper class area south of Birmingham. Even the regional banks are starting to provide some of these services.

Heard an ad on the radio the other day from a title loan company that was telling people to get a title loan to take a vacation if they didn't have enough money.
You can always tell the sh*t areas by number of these. In a city some years back I actually once counted seven in a single mile, it was hilarious. But then people like dmcowen gotta get their booze, right.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
Gas was $3.64 this morning (dropped from $3.69 sometime over the weekend) and was $3.58 by evening.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,589
5
0
Cyclic upwards a dime in Ann Arbor ($3.59 @ BP) this past week.
Went down a dime in Denver area ($3.39 @ local Shell)
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
7-13-2011

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Motor...1.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

Motorists driving less, but gas prices keep rising


US drivers see higher gas prices despite 4 months of fewer trips to the pump


"If you look at the macro-economic headlines, we should be closer to $67 (per barrel) than $97" for WTI, analyst Stephen Schork said. But many traders "are going to keep pushing things to see how far they go."

"The market is just looking for an excuse to go higher," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Gasoline is getting more expensive even though motorists continue to cut back. MasterCard SpendingPulse said Tuesday that gasoline consumption has dropped for 16 weeks in a row. SpendingPulse, which tracks credit card payments around the country, said the four-week average for gasoline demand fell by 1.1 percent last week compared to a year ago.

Demand even dropped over the July 4 weekend, usually a time for lots of road trips. MasterCard analyst Jason Gamel said motorists used 1.7 percent less this year than they did during last year's holiday weekend.

On Tuesday, both the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries forecast that world oil demand will increase to record levels this year.

EIA added that global oil production won't be enough to satisfy demand. The U.S. and other countries will have to keep dipping into spare supplies, if they don't want prices to spiral out of control, the EIA said.
 

airdata

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2010
4,987
0
0
and... my last 2 fillups are :

3.14 per gallon and
3.59 per gallon

Perhaps seeing $4 again very soon.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
You're not intelligent.
I don't even have a clue who he's talking about. He makes up figments of imaginary people who argue facts and then he counters their arguments with straw men. Guy really needs professional psychiatric attention.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
Well, a few of that stations raised from $3.49 to $3.75 this afternoon. That's an awfully big jump but not surprising. As I said...quick to jump and very slow to come down.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
7-15-2011

http://news.yahoo.com/former-nfl-running-back-charged-stealing-gas-233607193.html

Former NFL running back charged with stealing gas


Former Philadelphia Eagles running back Reno Mahe (MAY'-hee) surrendered to authorities this week to face a criminal theft charge in Utah.Mahe and four others are charged in Utah's 3rd District Court with stealing more than $15,000 in gasoline in 2010

At the time, Mahe said he wasn't aware he was being accused of doing something wrong. Mahe, 31, played for the Eagles for five years until 2008.


"It wasn't like I needed (A-Core)'s gas," he said last year, according to the Deseret News. "I'll pay, if that's the deal. I'll pay my portion back if he wasn't allowed to give it to me. I'm not worried about that part. As a man, you pay back your debts."
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,839
2,625
136
I've noticed in CT and MA that gas jumped roughly a quarter right after July 4th and it hasn't come back down yet. What is the experience in the rest of the country-going back up or still trending down?
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
I've noticed in CT and MA that gas jumped roughly a quarter right after July 4th and it hasn't come back down yet. What is the experience in the rest of the country-going back up or still trending down?

Jumped 30 cents after the 4th and then a nickle a day since, approaching $5 again in city of Chicago. Suburbs 40 cents lower than the city.

Will it cross $5 and start heading to $6 for Labor Day?

We'll see soon enough.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Today's article featuring Gas station near my corner at $4.51 for regular

The News is claiming the Mobil station is price gouging.

7-18-2011

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/07/18/gas-prices-rise-across-chicagoland/

Gas Prices Rise Across Chicagoland

Average gasoline prices in Chicago increased about a nickel per gallon in the past week and is $1.17 a gallon more expensive than a year ago.

The average cost for a gallon of regular is now $4.08, well above the national average of $3.67, according to ChicagoGasPrices.com.


However, a year ago this month, drivers were paying less than $3 a gallon.


The most expensive fill-up, according to ChicagoGasPrices? The Mobil at 1106 W Fullerton Ave. and Seminary Ave., where a gallon is selling for $4.51.


Across the border in Northwest Indiana, gasoline is selling for around $3.80 a gallon on average.


Wildly fluctuating prices are obviously nothing new. The United Press International reported in January of 1974, wholesale gasoline prices spiked 10 percent to over 50 cents a gallon as experts warned of price gouging at the pump.