Ronn!Blankenship wrote:
At 07:40 AM Thursday 9/1/2005, Julia Thompson wrote:
Leonard Matusik wrote:
Wed, 31 Aug 2005 15:19:31 -0700 Warren Ockrassa wrote:
On Aug 31, 2005, at 3:12 PM, Horn, John wrote:
Can someone (anyone?) explain what's going on?
Some call it capitalism; some call it opportunism; some call it
gouging.
Actually, the grown-up answer is a little simpler. Must-needs of cash
flow demand that people who sell things for a living, sell them for
their anticipated cost of replacement. Gasoline is no different from
anything else. Maybe the vendor makes a little short term profit. The
smart ones plow it into infrastructure improvement rather than
declare a divident.
Or maybe they're trying to make sure they can pay for the *next*
shipment, which will cost significantly more than the last one did,
and aren't sure how much that will be.
If the price at the Chevron station is still what it was when I came
in yesterday afternoon, I'm buying gas there for once. (It's usually
the most expensive gas on that road, but it was within $0.02 of the
cheapest gas, which was at a couple of Shell stations, which usually
charge more than the Exxon and the HEB. Weird.)
Some BP station in Atlanta is charging -- and has posted -- $5.87/gal.
for regular, and $6.07 for the highest grade.
Dang! That's worse than my story!
I drove by the Chevron this morning after 9. They posted $2.679. I
drove by the Albertson's. They posted $2.749. I went to HEB. They
posted $2.789. So the Chevron is the best place to buy gas.
I buy my groceries at HEB and head back to the Chevron station. The
price had gone up to $2.799. I grumbled and filled up the gas tank in
that vehicle.
I took a different vehicle to pick up Sam at school. I went to the
Albertson's to buy the green bell peppers I'd neglected to get at HEB.
When I went in to the store, the price was still $2.749. When I came
out of the store, intending to buy gas, the price had jumped to $2.819.
I figured I'd just go back to the Chevron and pay the $2.799 there.
So I get to the Chevron and the price is now $2.899! I grumble and
drive home without topping off that tank.
I'm going to take that vehicle to take Sam to an appointment and go back
to the HEB on the way back and pay whatever the heck HEB is charging at
that point this afternoon, and expect the Chevron price to be up once
again....
Julia
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