gas prices spiking in california
10-05-12, 06:21 AM
#16
Lexus Champion
But you can compare commodities to other commodities. Many of us shop at Costco because they're cheaper than other stores, and we get commodities like food and cleaning supplies there. Costco is the cheaper option because they cap their margin at 15%. Tell me again why 13.6% is evil?
10-05-12, 06:21 AM
#17
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (20)
according to the story, it's the summer blend that's harder to make so they want to move over to the winter blend earlier, but don't let the facts stop you. 
lol. again, read the story. the gas stations buy the gas. they sell as whatever price they have to. so if gas went up over night that would affect the next incoming shipment. gas stations might increase price ahead of the next shipment either due to concerns about availability or worry about the next price (they don't know i don't believe until they get it) in a sort of hedge. this isn't the grand conspiracy you believe it is.
now it's true he certainly did not go to bat for us! he'd rather 'pump' billions of our money into failed solar company companies like solyndra and block off-shore drilling and other exploration.
Tomorrow, my neighbor will sneeze and prices will go up another 50 cents. In the meantime, all the gas shipped to the pumps yesterday at the lower price will cost more to the consumer tomorrow and the oil companies will increase their profits even more. Yep, that's fair alright.
Yes Mr. Obama, everything is juuuuust fine and we certainly are better off today paying $4.80/gal than we were four years ago. Thanks for going to bat for us while we cancel our weekend plans.
billions of our money into failed solar company companies like solyndra and block off-shore drilling and other exploration.
10-05-12, 06:29 AM
#19
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (20)
also, that $1.50 was worth more then than $1.50 today (weakened dollar).
Back around 2004-2005, when gas went from $1.50 to $3.50, you seriously believe oil companies profit margin stayed the same?
good point. costco's model is different though, as they also make billions from their membership dues.
10-05-12, 06:33 AM
#21
Super Moderator
True, they didn't, BP, for example, saw its net profit margin soar from 9% to......9%. Exxon Mobil did a bit better, going from 8.7% to 10.1%, while Shell fell in the middle, jumping a whopping 1.3% from 6.95% to 8.25%. Interestingly enough, the industry as a whole did better than any of the big 3, going from 7.58% to 10.48%, implying that it's the SMALL producers and refiners that are engaging in these "evil profitability" tactics.
10-05-12, 06:36 AM
#22
Super Moderator
Ok so producers and distributors of products can't be compared because they're not the same product, and other types of business can't be compared because they're not the same business. I give up. Oil companies can only be compared to oil companies (benchmarking is apparently a humungous waste of time for all businesses, yet some of the most successful for some reason keep doing it), and their profits are excessive if someone on the internet deems them so.
This makes them MORE evil, doesn't it? I mean they're raking in cash ON TOP OF an "excessively high" profit margin on product sales!
This makes them MORE evil, doesn't it? I mean they're raking in cash ON TOP OF an "excessively high" profit margin on product sales!
Last edited by geko29; 10-05-12 at 06:41 AM.
10-05-12, 06:38 AM
#23
if you rate the gasoline prices in terms of Constitutional money like what we had pre 1965 in the 90% silver US coinage, gasoline is actually the cheapest its been in our nations history. What happened? The value of the USD tanked, thats what happened. Gasoline back in the 1960s was about 25c a gallon. Mind you that quarter was 90% silver and in todays money that quarter is worth $6.28 in melt. So with gas around $3.50-4 today that means gas is around 15c in constitutional money. Almost 50% cheaper than what it was in the 1960s for obvious reasons, technological advancements since the 1960s has enabled greater productivity despite all the problems this country has. Heck if we had truly stayed free market then it would be even cheaper than 15c.
I know this is a little off topic but people need to see that gas is actually cheaper in other forms of money like gold and silver. Its the value of the USD that has tanked causing gas prices to rise
I know this is a little off topic but people need to see that gas is actually cheaper in other forms of money like gold and silver. Its the value of the USD that has tanked causing gas prices to rise
Last edited by 4TehNguyen; 10-05-12 at 06:41 AM.
10-05-12, 07:50 AM
#25
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (20)
i can imagine $10 gas in 2 years due to raging inflation.
10-05-12, 07:59 AM
#26
Lexus Fanatic
CA gas prices are often higher than in many other states. You can thank a number of factors for that (including CA fuel-taxes), but the main issue is CARB (California Air Resources Board). They go over and above even EPA requirements for refining low-emission, clean-burning gas, especially for seasonal use. The result is that oil-companies have to produce special fuels for the limited CA (and similiar-state) market that are simply not cost-effective for their limited-scale. Therefore, in those areas, they sell for more at both the wholesale and retail level.
10-05-12, 08:37 AM
#29
10-05-12, 08:40 AM
#30
True, they didn't, BP, for example, saw its net profit margin soar from 9% to......9%. Exxon Mobil did a bit better, going from 8.7% to 10.1%, while Shell fell in the middle, jumping a whopping 1.3% from 6.95% to 8.25%. Interestingly enough, the industry as a whole did better than any of the big 3, going from 7.58% to 10.48%, implying that it's the SMALL producers and refiners that are engaging in these "evil profitability" tactics.
Petrol industry is #1 profitable industry in the world, a lot bigger than anything else.
So what exactly are you saying again?
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...anies/profits/