Replies to post #10993 on FinancialAdvisor's College Class (FACC)

[FinancialAdvisor]

U.S. Gasoline Pump Price Hits Record $3.057, AAA Says (Update1)

*Should I be happy that the highest average pump prices is right around me?...

U.S. Gasoline Pump Price Hits Record $3.057, AAA Says

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The average U.S. pump price for regular-grade gasoline rose to a record $3.057 a gallon on Sept. 2, according to the AAA, after Hurricane Katrina idled 10 percent of the nation's refining capacity last week.

Friday's average nationwide price gained 19 cents from the previous day and was up 65 percent from $1.849 a year ago, the nation's largest motoring organization said in its daily fuel- gauge report, posted on its Web site.

Refinery shutdowns along the Gulf of Mexico coast have caused scattered gasoline shortages in parts of the U.S. The highest average pump price on Sept. 2 was in Maryland, where it reached $3.26 a gallon, followed by Washington D.C., the nation's capital, where it was $3.258.

``If motorists can cut back a little bit, the whole country doesn't have to be burdened with shortages,' Dan Gilligan, president of the Arlington, Virginia-based Petroleum Marketers Association of America, which represents 8,000 U.S. marketers, said on Sept. 2. ``Instead of going 200 miles, it would be better if they went 50 miles.'

U.S. state officials warned retailers not to overcharge and the Environmental Protection Agency has temporarily waived some anti-pollution requirements to allow lower quality gasoline to be sold in various regions. Georgia waived taxes on gasoline through the end of the month to help keep retail prices in check and one Oklahoma lawmaker is pressing for similar steps.

A return road trip from New York City to the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida, would rack up $482 in fuel costs, using a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe, a typical sport utility vehicle, according to a fuel calculator on the AAA website. The two-way trip covers 2,166 miles, and uses 155 gallons.

``Only about 40 percent of petroleum goes into passenger cars,' Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, said in an interview on Sept. 2. ``Most of it goes for business transportation or important industrial products like plastics or petrochemicals.'

The cheapest U.S. state in which to buy regular gasoline was Alaska, where a gallon fetched $2.735 on Friday, according to the AAA, which surveys credit card transactions at 60,000 self-serve stations.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alejandro Barbajosa in London at [e-mail]
Stephen Voss in London at [e-mail]


LINK: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aeT_w4Bej3ec&refer=us

[lentinman]

EXXON GIVES $2M: What's that?

Yeah, you heard it right. Exxon, out of the generosity of their hearts, has given a whopping $2M to help with Katrina. This is a CLASSIC example of the arrogance and selfishness of not just the oil industry, but the filthy rich in general.

EXXON made $7.6 Billion dollars in profit JUST LAST QUARTER.

Here is an analogy. Let's suppose you are a family of 4 and you have a household income of $60,000 a year. Now, remember to compare this to EXXON, we are going to have to figure out how much PROFIT you made in the most recent quarter. Well, if you pay even only 20% in all forms of taxes, that leaves you with $48,000. If you figure that your "expenses" in life are probably at least $40,000, then you might have made $8,000 "profit" (if you are very lucky). Divide that by 4 to get your quarterly "profit". So, now you have $2,000 in quarterly profit.

Now, let's say that you decide that you are going to benevolently give as EXXON has given. You say that you will give proportionately. How much do you think you would be giving?? If you said 53 cents you would be right.

So, for the average 4 person family who makes $60,000, they could be as generous as EXXON by simply giving 53 cents. PATHETIC doesn't even begin to describe it!!!

What makes it even worse is that they are almost certainly going to make hundreds of times more than $2M JUST ON THE INCREASED COST OF OIL DUE TO KATRINA. They are only giving a fraction of the ill-gotten gains from just from the windfall of Katrina. They should be shot! No lawyers. No courts. Just shot!

Len