Now watch gasoline prices can you say 4 dollars a gallon

[dumpster56]

It really is heading that way, and just wait till you have to wait on lines again. There will be killings on american streets and both parties will be thrown out of office, republican big business types and democrat liberal types. Everyone will suffer. Gotta buy that vw non gas bio jetta that gets 50 mpglnow!

[laurence]

We won't get lines unless the gubment decides to impose price caps. What I think is funny/sad is the Owellian way the "historical inflation adjusted all time high" always manages to be about $10-$20/barrel higher than today's prices, no matter how high they go. Next week we'll have a "spontaneous" march thanking Big Brother for reducing the price of oil to $80 a barrel. :P

Most of the people at work who drive F-450 mega cabs are jerks anyway....

My 1.9 litre engine does just fine on it's 12 mile commute. Maybe this oil price will push up the COLA raises at work!

[dusk_to_dawn]

I'm OK with $4.00/gal. Bring it on.

[HFWR]

Milk or gasoline? :P

[rrspike]

having grown up in England, this whole business about the price of petrol is amazing to me. Although i have to admit the tax surcharges on our gas in California is a disgrace.

[MasterBlaster]

Quote:

Although i have to admit the tax surcharges on our gas in California is a disgrace.

Originally, the California gas taxes were meant to pay for roads and freeways. That seemed very fair, those that used the roads most paid the most for them through gas taxes. Now the money just goes into the bottomless pit of the California General Budget.

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Taxman

'Cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman

[bpp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dusk_to_dawn I'm OK with $4.00/gal. Bring it on.

Me too. I could handle the reduction.

Seriously, I don't think it would be that apocalyptic.

Bpp

[laurence]

Ah, The Beatles. What about the pennies on your eyes?

The problem (which we have discussed here before) is that the higher gas prices trickles into every corner of the economy. Goods cost more to deliver, transportation/airfare, much machinery for manufacturing is powered by the stuff, power plants, etc.

But yes, $4 a gallon, if consistent and stable, would probably be a good thing for the country, as it will make many innovations and alternatives profitable, and perhaps lessen our dependency. It's the "Gouge you for a while" then go back down that keeps the investment dollars from flowing. No one wants to get left holding the bag on a now unprofitable soybean to petrol factory...

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newguy88 It really is heading that way, and just wait till you have to wait on lines again. There will be killings on american streets and both parties will be thrown out of office, republican big business types and democrat liberal types. Everyone will suffer. Gotta buy that vw non gas bio jetta that gets 50 mpglnow!

[gloat]I guess that Prius I bought 3 months ago ($3700 tax credit for 06, BTW) will look pretty good. Got 60 mpg on my 30 mile round trip commute today.[/gloat]

I think that $4.00 is not unlikely. Should spur a tax windfall for the state. Maybe they'll finish some of the road projects that never end.

[laurence]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa I think that $4.00 is not unlikely. Should spur a tax windfall for the state. Maybe they'll finish some of the road projects that never end.

I'm not sure I follow, how is the ~80 cents a gallon they collect affected buy the market price of gas? They working on a percentage?

[wildcat]

I am glad I added to PCRIX at the beginning of this year just in case something like this were to happen.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence I'm not sure I follow, how is the ~80 cents a gallon they collect affected buy the market price of gas? They working on a percentage?

Not sure if gasoline tax is a percentage of the price per gallon in most areas, but to the extent that gas is more costly, so are all its derivative products, no? Sales tax is a percentage, so higher prices mean more sales tax for the state. Hopefully some of that gets spent wisely (yeah right :).

OK, so it's a stretch. I'm a "glass is half full" kind of guy.

[mathjak107]

every time oil and gas go up im making enough in my energy sector funds to buy lots more gas to cover many years of driving...best thing i ever did was hedge with energy and commodity funds

[laurence]

Whoo-hoo, warp speed, Mr. Sulu!

In London, Brent crude for June delivery at the ICE Futures exchange also hit an all-time high of $72.20 a barrel, before easing back to $71.91 — a 45 cent increase from Monday’s close.

On NPR this morning (best radio on the planet IMHO, BBC close second) an "expert" said we're going to see $100 oil soon, no question in her mind.

[justin]

More doom and gloom. It's already been discussed 8 months ago. Didn't come true then either (yet).

http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...p?topic=4066.0

Eventually, it'll probably happen. Problem is, do we hit $1 or $2 again before we hit $4? Will it take 10 or 20 years?

Remember if you have a diversified equity portfolio, you probably have ~10% of your portfolio in energy sector stocks already (based on the composition of SP500 or Total Market Index).

[laurence]

Spooky, Justin! It's like Deja Vu all over again! Even the thread name!

And thanks for answering a question I asked on a different thread wrt S&P and Oil stocks.

[justin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence And thanks for answering a question I asked on a different thread wrt S&P and Oil stocks.

If you want to google it and see some better percentages, Vanguard had an article about it. They had a breakdown for most of their index funds and most of them were 8-11% in energy stocks. That made me feel a little better about not catching the ride-up in the energy funds (even though I caught a little slice of it).

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin If you want to google it and see some better percentages, Vanguard had an article about it. They had a breakdown for most of their index funds and most of them were 8-11% in energy stocks.

Vanguard fund energy percentages as of July 31, 2005:

http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...83979#msg83979

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Spooky, Justin! It's like Deja Vu all over again! Even the thread name!

I don't believe in coincidences. My theory is you girls are sisters who were separated at birth.

[justin]

Thanks REWahoo.

Here's the link to the original Vanguard article.

http://tinyurl.com/h4vrj

It's worth a read to give you some food for thought if you are thinking about jumping into oil/energy right now.