Average gas price $6.20/gal by end of Summer

[almost there]

They are saying $10.00 by end of summer in SoCal.
Reg. is $6.35 today / best price in town.

 

[TheWizard]

Gas prices north of Boston have been stable the past week or two and have now declined a few cents at some stations I monitor.
No idea if this will continue.
Still early in the hurricane season also...

 

[Chuckanut]

At least back in the day, it was recommended to occasionally bring the car's temp up to "normal" by driving for 15 minutes or so. That boils away any condensed water in the crank case. Probably worth the fuel to preserve the engine. YMMV

Also, driving the car until the engine gets up to full operating temperature helps to discourage rodents that like to chew on your car's expensive to repair wiring.

During the Covid shutdown I took my car out once a week for a 20+ mile drive to a more rural area and back. And I change the oil every 6 months, regardless of mileage. 10,000 miles or 1,000 miles, every six months I change oil using fully synthetic 0W-16 (as recommended by the manufacturer).

Back on topic - I paid $5.40 a gallon the other day for regular leaded. My state has high gasoline taxes.

So far we are not seeing a lot of push-back in terms of traffic. But, I live in an area where cars like the Prius have been popular for years. I think we are seeing more vehicle swapping: The higher mileage vehicle gets the long drive, the gashog gets the short trip to the Quickie-Mart. That's what people claim they are doing.

 

[NW-Bound]

WTI crude is down -6% to $111/barrel. My energy stocks are getting hammered today.

What's going on?

 

[Car-Guy]

WTI crude is down -6% to $111/barrel. My energy stocks are getting hammered today.

What's going on?

Simple, I bought yesterday.

 

[aja8888]

WTI crude is down -6% to $111/barrel. My energy stocks are getting hammered today.

What's going on?

I sold my FENY yesterday and made $8 share for the 12 months I owned it. If it gets back to mid-teens, I'll buy it back. I am getting put 200 shares of OXY today. Then I'l just sell calls on all I have. I got out of XOM a while back.

A breather on oil for a while.

 

[NW-Bound]

Simple, I bought yesterday.

I just saw your post on the other thread. OUCH!

Yesterday, energy stocks went down and I thought they would bounce today. No such luck.

I sold my FENY yesterday and made $8 share for the 12 months I owned it. If it gets back to mid-teens, I'll buy it back. I am getting put 200 shares of OXY today. Then I'l just sell calls on all I have. I got out of XOM a while back.

A breather on oil for a while.

Puts I am getting assigned today include the following energy stocks: OIH, XLE, OVV, HAL, VLO, CPE. Altogether with other stocks outside of energy, I am forced to buy around $100K or less.

I think I am done with selling puts for a while.

Or maybe not. Depends on what my stock AA is after these assignments.

 

[madatrub]

WTI crude is down -6% to $111/barrel. My energy stocks are getting hammered today.

What's going on?

Fears of recession being pulled forward leading to demand forecast cuts.

 

[REWahoo]

"Average gas price $6.20/gal by end of Summer"

...or maybe not:

GasBuddy predicts national average price per gallon could go down by 4th of July

"No one should be in a rush to fill their gas tank- prices in most areas of the US will be coming down in the days and weeks ahead (things could shift, so stay tuned), but we could drop back to a national average of $4.75-$4.85/gal by July 4 if nothing changes!"

A Gulf hurricane and all bets are off.

 

[Magus]

Fears of recession being pulled forward leading to demand forecast cuts.

Yup

A Gulf hurricane and all bets are off.

Indeed. My firm has locked in gasoline for 2022 since May 2020 and we locked in 2023 when RBOB was at $2 gallon earlier this year thankfully. Not hedged for 2024 though.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's a sign that people are beginning to shift patterns in regards to higher gas prices:

For instance, Toyota said hybrid sales accounted for 26% of its total U.S. business in May, up from 24% in the same month last year.
Bob Carter, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief, said Toyota could have easily increased its hybrid sales to about 40% of the U.S. sales mix, given the current demand. “But we can’t build that much,” he added.

 

[Koolau]

Also, driving the car until the engine gets up to full operating temperature helps to discourage rodents that like to chew on your car's expensive to repair wiring.

During the Covid shutdown I took my car out once a week for a 20+ mile drive to a more rural area and back. And I change the oil every 6 months, regardless of mileage. 10,000 miles or 1,000 miles, every six months I change oil using fully synthetic 0W-16 (as recommended by the manufacturer).

Back on topic - I paid $5.40 a gallon the other day for regular leaded. My state has high gasoline taxes.

So far we are not seeing a lot of push-back in terms of traffic. But, I live in an area where cars like the Prius have been popular for years. I think we are seeing more vehicle swapping: The higher mileage vehicle gets the long drive, the gashog gets the short trip to the Quickie-Mart. That's what people claim they are doing.

I know that oil is recommended to be changed according to miles and/or months. But, 6 months with full syn? I paid $100 (with discount) for a full syn oil change (full service, top fluids, change filter, "safety check" etc.) That's gonna last me at least a year. How much damage is 1 year old syn-oil gonna do with 1000 miles on it? AND if I continue driving a couple of thousand miles/year, how long will said engine last me? A long time, is my SWAG. Perhaps its a gamble, but I doubt it. Oh, even with Full Syn, the quickeylube (or whatever) put the sticker on recommending return in 3 months or 3000 miles! Some things never change.

 

[meleana]

I've seen the cancel vacation chatter too - it doesn't make much sense. Gas going from $3 to $6 cost you $200-300 extra for 2,000 mile round trip in your minivan (2K mi / 25 mpg x $3 = $240). I can't see people completely canceling a week at the beach or trip to Disney over that amount of money. And most road-trip vacations are a day's drive, less than 1000 miles round trip so ~100 bucks more in gas.

I think reducing and consolidating routine trips is the more common response.


EDIT - not to say that the combined inflation of hotels, restaurants , destination prices, gas, etc. might not cause people to reconsider vacation plans.

Maybe not for you, but everything adds up, as you mentioned. And with investments tanking, I know we have cut out a lot. Haven’t had a “real” vacation since 2019 and then factor in the nightmare of flying anywhere these days plus the airfares and car rentals. Nope. Thank goodness we live in a vacation area. I walk to the community pool or lake for free.

 

[Koolau]

Maybe not for you, but everything adds up, as you mentioned. And with investments tanking, I know we have cut out a lot. Haven’t had a “real” vacation since 2019 and then factor in the nightmare of flying anywhere these days plus the airfares and car rentals. Nope. Thank goodness we live in a vacation area. I walk to the community pool or lake for free.

I can't walk to Waikiki, but I could take THE BUS if my car won't start. YMMV

 

[a60dan]

We left western NY May 5, driving Route 66 Chicago to Santa Monica.

Barstow California we paid 6.53, the highest we’ve seen.

I’ve been putting into my truck every day what a nursing home bed cost in the 1980s

I’m just glad we didn’t fool ourselves into thinking it would get better if we waited until next year.

Prices vary by region, but they are still increasing.

I noticed less traffic on I-80 Indiana to Cleveland today, but the trucks are still idling in the rest areas. Yes- if you can pass the cost on, who cares?

 

[NW-Bound]

I can't walk to Waikiki, but I could take THE BUS if my car won't start. YMMV

The last time we went to Oahu, I rented a high-rise apartment on Waikiki. I just looked it up again. The building is called Discovery Bay Condominium.

Cost a little bit more than other accommodations, but for 5 people (I paid for son, daughter, and son-in-law), the price was not bad.

 

[Koolau]

The last time we went to Oahu, I rented a high-rise apartment on Waikiki. I just looked it up again. The building is called Discovery Bay Condominium.

Cost a little bit more than other accommodations, but for 5 people (I paid for son, daughter, and son-in-law), the price was not bad.

What ever you paid, you probably would have to pay 3 or 4 times as much now. YMMV

 

[NW-Bound]

What ever you paid, you probably would have to pay 3 or 4 times as much now. YMMV

Probably so.

I have been to Oahu 3 times, Maui also 3 times, the big island twice, but Kauai only once.

I may go back to Kauai once more, but I don't yet know when.

 

[Koolau]

Probably so.

I have been to Oahu 3 times, Maui also 3 times, the big island twice, but Kauai only once.

I may go back to Kauai once more, but I don't yet know when.

We enjoyed Kauai, but it was so laid back that we decided it wasn't for us. THEN, on The Weather Channel, we watched Iniki approach Oahu but veer toward Kauai. We were quite concerned about our Town House and our tenants. When most of Iniki missed Oahu, we celebrated but didn't realize that it was about to scour Kauai. Not a hotel room survived it and it took 2 or 3 years to even start tourism again. I'm sure it would look different than we remembered - except the natural beauty of the rain forest and the mountains.

Maybe we'll go back as well.

 

[NW-Bound]

For those who don't have "Kroger," you may have one of these other Kroger brands. For instance in Arizona we have "Fry's," which gives out fuel points.

Kroger Family of Companies

Yes. Kroger is everywhere, and operates under different names that they took over.

I still remember in an RV trip, buying grocery in Bozeman. The friendly clerk of this local store which was unknown to us asked us if we had their discount card. I said we were just passing by. He said just give him our home number. I asked why. He said, you will know.

Our number which was registered with Fry's showed up. I told the clerk I was impressed. Yes, they have a shared database from all their stores.

The clerk knew that the chance of us registering with a Kroger-associated store was very high.

I don't have the habit of getting fuel at a Kroger store, however. It's because their local stores here do not have gas stations.

 

[REWahoo]

Yes. Kroger is everywhere, and operates under different names that they took over.

Not here. They cut and ran about 30 years ago.

 

[Magus]

Not here. They cut and ran about 30 years ago.

You may be surprised. Kroger’s owns a ton of banners

Supermarkets – Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Pick ‘n Save, Metro Market, Mariano’s
Multi-department stores – Fred Meyer
Dillons Marketplace, Fry’s Marketplace, King Soopers Marketplace, Kroger Marketplace, Smith’s Marketplace
Price-impact warehouse stores – Food 4 Less, Foods Co

They left my area too but bought Harris Teeter later and now have the lions share of this market as an example.

 

[acronymous]

I can't walk to Waikiki, but I could take THE BUS if my car won't start. YMMV

Don't you mean Da Bus? [emoji1690]

Appears I am not current; now called The Bus!

 

[Koolau]

Don't you mean Da Bus? [emoji1690]

Appears I am not current; now called The Bus!

Heh, heh, dis haole boy say THE BUS but da local boy say Da Bus. YMMV

 

[eytonxav]

With companies returning employees to work since Covid has become less concerning, I am wondering if companies will soon reinstate work from home policies due to gas prices. I pity those who have to commute 30-40 miles to work.