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[Frank Marano]

 

[Larry Phillips]

Man, that's an OLD picture...

 

[Tom Schindler]

Larry, actually it is Exxon/Mobil's new pricing stragedy. The figure to keep prices looking lower, they are going to start selling it by the quart.





Tom

 

[TomT]

We could go metric. When I went to Canada a couple of years ago I saw the signs at the gas stations and thought to myself that they really have cheap gas up here. When I finally stopped to fill my car up, I figured out it was liters, not gallons. Not so cheap after all.

 

[user 62394]

Why? What are they supposed to do, sell you gas at below cost so they lose money? It's a business for Christ's sake.



Frankly, GM makes me sick -- How do you run a business so poorly that you lose 8.6 BILLION dollars in a year? Ford makes me sick -- at least Exxon Mobile isn't laying off 25,000 employees. Where would you rather work? I'll stick with the company actually making money.



I know I will get flamed mercilessly for this, but I just don't understand the sentiment.

 

[Tom Schindler]

The question is if the oil companies are inflating fuel prices because they can. Crude oil at an all time high, people screaming about gas prices and the oil companies making record profits.





Tom

 

[Frank Marano]

edited

 

[Frank Marano]

edited

 

[Dale Carter]

here we go again, I wondered how long it would take to read an "evil oil company *******s gouging us" screed after the story hit the wires.



Wonder where everybody was when the same companies were losing money?



Question, does it make airlines and car companies "nicer" companies because they lose their butts?? How about the biggest money loser in history, the Federal government?





Simple equation, higher demand, higher prices, growing market share, improved cost management equal record profits. I wonder how the price of gas compares to inflation over the last 20 years?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Yeah, DC, and we have discussed this before...



The rub is that when record profits come out the same year as seemingly record high prices consumers simply wish for a kinder, gentler company that maybe would maybe "lower their prices" as a sign of goodwill.



But that's just a wish, and you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first.



Of course, there is nothing wrong with maximizing profits. Nothing evil there.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Q, Don't you mean macroeconomics?



Maybe Exxon should buy GM, and then continue making huge vehicles which would in turn burn more fuel for them to sell. The combined company would at least break even.

 

[Frank Marano]

ok well maybe I should have just not posted this at all.



God forbid someone has an opinion.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Frank, no need to delete the post. You know everyone has an opinon here, and we all don't agree on everything. It would be really boring otherwise.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q said:

What have you learned from this experience? Do you know ALL the facts as to why they made record profits? Do you have any idea what those profits mean to our economy as a whole or even the local economies near Exxon? Have you thought very deeply about this at all?

I have thought about it quite a bit.



The way I see it is that I and most others in the country had LESS discretionary income to spend on things in 05 than in 04 due to the drastically increased price of gas at the pumps.



That means less amounts spent on those non-essential items like: meals out, dvds, movie tickets, clothes, etc (crap we don't need anyway, I guess). Or, maybe people elected to NOT change their spending on those non-essentials, and instead either saved less, or took on more credit card debt.



So, yeah, Q, I have thought about it. To my way of thinking, if Exxon and their affiliates/employees prospored than someone else paid for that prosperity in the form of harder times.



I am NOT saying it's bad...I am just using a simple illustration here to point out that most people can't necessarily stop commuting or trade their vehicles in for more fuel efficient ones; so instead, they take some of their money they fed to other sectors and use it to pay for the essential fuel they need.



So the Exxon exec or employee got a raise, but the guy working at Blockbuster or at TGIF, he or she stayed flat.



TJR

 

[Larry Phillips]

It's one thing to stay in business and make a profit. It's another to stick it to your customers and not even have the courtesy to use the Vaseline. Whether or not anyone wants to admit it, they've got this country by the testicles until the oil supply starts to run out.

 

[Frank Marano]

thanks for your opinion. Have a nice day.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Hey, Q, you asked if anybody is thinking in-depth. I said, yeah, I have.



I don't remember in my post saying it was about "me, me, me..."; but since you implied in such a nice way I will say that I WAS NOT talking about me, because I am one of those people that figuratively prints money in my basement, so $30 more per week for gas is no big deal...I just print more.



Want to know how I print money in my basement?... just ask!



However, I did describe how when companies like Exxon prosper they may be doing so at the detriment of other industries and sectors, but it seems you have no comment on that possibility.



TJR

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Larry, they can't use vaseline. It is made of petroleum, and we all know that is expensive!

 

[Larry Phillips]

Not like oil prices...





Nelson- seeing how it is petroleum based, they should have plenty in stock! :lol:

 

[Kerry Matthews]

Just do like I did and buy oil stocks... Exxon & BP baby!!!!