How low will it go?

Oil falls as low as $118 on demand concerns
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080805/oil_prices.html?.v=13

Could we see it fall below $100?

$116-117 is the next "technical" level.. whatever that means. But basically, if it hits that it'll drop quickly after.

I want to know how it is that gas stations will raise their prices mid-day if oil goes up $5/barrel but yet I've never seen gas drop mid-day. We are down over 20% from the July high, yet gas prices are only down about 7%.

cardinal5150 wrote:$116-117 is the next "technical" level.. whatever that means. But basically, if it hits that it'll drop quickly after.

I want to know how it is that gas stations will raise their prices mid-day if oil goes up $5/barrel but yet I've never seen gas drop mid-day. We are down over 20% from the July high, yet gas prices are only down about 7%.

What do you think is going on? If this is a free market, aren't they allowed to charge what they want? What do you think should be done about it?

I think the only think that we could do about it is not use gas. Just don't drive. You don't think they'd notice a 20% drop in sales in a month if everyone just tried a little harder to not use gasoline? Forget the shopping trip to the mall or the ball game, etc. Just stay home and have a picnic and camp out in the back yard or something. Have a neighborhood cookout. Get the kids in a stroller and go for a walk. Tell the 16 year olds to ride the bus. etc. etc. etc.

Has anyone on this board carpooled anywhere in the last 3 months?

Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

Same here, our number of car trips to the lake has decreased this year. The starter went out on my boat so I haven't been pumping gas into it lately. The jet ski is getting a workout though. It's actually half way decent on eating gas.

meta4 wrote:

cardinal5150 wrote:$116-117 is the next "technical" level.. whatever that means. But basically, if it hits that it'll drop quickly after.

I want to know how it is that gas stations will raise their prices mid-day if oil goes up $5/barrel but yet I've never seen gas drop mid-day. We are down over 20% from the July high, yet gas prices are only down about 7%.

What do you think is going on? If this is a free market, aren't they allowed to charge what they want? What do you think should be done about it?

I think the only think that we could do about it is not use gas. Just don't drive. You don't think they'd notice a 20% drop in sales in a month if everyone just tried a little harder to not use gasoline? Forget the shopping trip to the mall or the ball game, etc. Just stay home and have a picnic and camp out in the back yard or something. Have a neighborhood cookout. Get the kids in a stroller and go for a walk. Tell the 16 year olds to ride the bus. etc. etc. etc.

Has anyone on this board carpooled anywhere in the last 3 months?

I have no problem with people making a buck... but I also have no problem with station owners going out of business when people realize they are getting gouged. There's a fine line between making a buck and screwing people, and you have to be able to deal with the consequences when that happens.

I think we're seeing that drop in usage, and that's why prices aren't falling. They want to ensure they make a profit, so they are keeping prices up to get some profits before dropping. Besides, can you name another industry that changes prices so dramatically? Lumber and Steel prices have increased dramatically in the past couple years, but home and auto prices aren't increasing the same. That's what I think most people have a beef with.. when we get hit with the upside.. where's the reward on the downside?

I offered to carpool with Mark, but his kids got in the way.

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

How many trips to the sandbar are you making? lol

IrishGuy wrote:

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

Same here, our number of car trips to the lake has decreased this year. The starter went out on my boat so I haven't been pumping gas into it lately. The jet ski is getting a workout though. It's actually half way decent on eating gas.

Do you pull anyone behind it? I saw something two weeks ago that I had never seen before... Two Jet Ski's pulled a slalom skier out of the water, then the skier let go of one rope and continued behind one of the jet skis.

I think the water pump is going out on my boat... suck tastic... it's not hard to replace, but just a PITA... I need to go through the boat this year. I wonder how legal it is to park it in my drive way for the offseason to do some serious work on it.

Our normal storage place is 20 miles from here in an unlighted barn... makes it difficult to put in a few hours without burning a weekend or working in the dark.

Oops... hijack!

pez wrote:

IrishGuy wrote:

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

Same here, our number of car trips to the lake has decreased this year. The starter went out on my boat so I haven't been pumping gas into it lately. The jet ski is getting a workout though. It's actually half way decent on eating gas.

Do you pull anyone behind it? I saw something two weeks ago that I had never seen before... Two Jet Ski's pulled a slalom skier out of the water, then the skier let go of one rope and continued behind one of the jet skis.

I think the water pump is going out on my boat... suck tastic... it's not hard to replace, but just a PITA... I need to go through the boat this year. I wonder how legal it is to park it in my drive way for the offseason to do some serious work on it.

Our normal storage place is 20 miles from here in an unlighted barn... makes it difficult to put in a few hours without burning a weekend or working in the dark.

Oops... hijack!

I see your hijack and raise you.

The starter on my boat is damn near impossible to get off without removing soem other vital parts first. Even with extensions and knuckles on the ratchets, it still can't be done. I think it will be a fall/winter project for me as well. My jet ski is a two seater, and being on a public lake, it's illegal to pull someone behind it. That is interesting though about two skis pulling a slalom skiier out of the water. Kind of brilliant really. I had a buddy who's parents lived on a private lake when we were in high school and he had a two seater that we would wakeboard and ski behind. Pretty fun and a great way to learn.

cardinal5150 wrote:

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

How many trips to the sandbar are you making? lol

heh... our lake is maybe 100 acres, round... you can see the entire lake from any point on the lake. There is no sandbar... there's a spot we go to and park the boats and drink, but it's only about 200 yards from the cottage... we just do it because we can.

Anyone have a line on a boat lift?

pez wrote:

cardinal5150 wrote:

pez wrote:Yea, we started dramatically decreasing the number of cars going up to the lake. Boat weekend cost us $225 in gas alone...

How many trips to the sandbar are you making? lol

heh... our lake is maybe 100 acres, round... you can see the entire lake from any point on the lake. There is no sandbar... there's a spot we go to and park the boats and drink, but it's only about 200 yards from the cottage... we just do it because we can.

Anyone have a line on a boat lift?

When I was looking for a jet ski lift, I just drove around a few of the lakes. Especially with the summer season getting on the downside people will be looking to unload. When I was looking, there were three out there, one guy never called me back, one was more than I wanted to pay, and the other sold before I could talk to the guy. Of course, you would have to do your looking on a bike to save gas (putting this kind of back on topic).

my days of boating ins are long gone.. but I do remember how nice it was to have a lift for my Sea-Doo and our boat.. never had to scrub the bottoms.. then we got a pontoon and no one cared because it was just a vessel to get my parents to and from the sand bar.. and my Sea-Doo turned into a beer delivery craft.

meta4 wrote:Has anyone on this board carpooled anywhere in the last 3 months?

Did it just this week. At the conference, 3 of us met at the airport and rented a car and drove to the hotel together. Granted, we could have all piled into one of those big shuttle vans and not used the car at all, but the one guy was renting a car regardless.

cardinal5150 wrote:my days of boating ins are long gone.. but I do remember how nice it was to have a lift for my Sea-Doo and our boat.. never had to scrub the bottoms.. then we got a pontoon and no one cared because it was just a vessel to get my parents to and from the sand bar.. and my Sea-Doo turned into a beer delivery craft.

I almost want a little pontoon for booze cruises and such. We have a weird arrangement at our lake... We have a boat but it's big enough to go on Lake Michigan, and a buddy that comes up brings his classic Nautique and leaves it there for the summer. We 'charge' him the use of his boat in exchange for license to come up whenever... So the big green machine just sits most of the time.

This fall I want to go through the green machine (a 1978 Century Raven runabout) and get the lights and gauges working again. The problem is that someone has "fixed" them 10-12 times before and it's a mess now.

I hate working on a boat in the spring because it delays getting it in the water. I hate working on a boat in the fall because the reward of getting it back out on the water is 7 months away.

and back to topic, whenever we take the boat out it has at least 3 people on it to allow access to the boatpool lane.

lol @ Pez ... boatpool lane!

Bman wrote:lol @ Pez ... boatpool lane!

LOL ! can't believe it has taken me this long to get what he meant by that... I need another cup of coffee!