LexFather

Relating this to the car industry, you don't just make a car in 6 months. Those with fuel efficient offerings will immediately do well. Those that have ignored the signed and continued to ignore the signs will suffer.

STIG

Locomotive can move inventories around the country.

Commuter can use public transportations.

We are just wasting too much gas at the current rate. I see only one drive in a huge SUV all the time. That's just non sense.

iKenn

iTrader: (1)

now everyone in the world will have to drive a prius.

I got dibs on black.

If gas prices go above 5-6 dollars im am defiantly trading in my car, hands down. Hope they invent something.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

As we all know fuel prices have a dramatic impact on every aspect of our everyday lives from the airlines to food prices to shipping costs, etc..

The near term outlook is bleak as the world is already in the midst of vast food shortage and with fuel prices escalating this will only increase demand for biofuel which in turn will even further diminish the food supply as farmers find corn for biofuel more profitable than food.

I read that it takes 528 POUNDS of corn to fill up one Chevy Suburban. That could feed an entire family for some time.

Not sure about $10.00 but $7.00 is a certainty in a few months and many Americans are just going to use their tax rebate to subsidize their fuel needs. The nations mass transit system is simply not a viable alternative for many in the suburbs to rely on so we must rely on our cars. Starting to miss NY,NY right about now.

That Prius sure is also looking good.

Hate to be a pessimist, but I fear that things are going to get very tough in the States for the next few years; the market will crash severely as confidence erodes, interest rate drops have done nothing, the retail sector is already in dire straights, bankruptcies are at an all time high, unemployment is on a huge upswing, continued snow balling effect of housing, fuel prices, food shortages, continued dramatic increase in crime, etc... It ain't gonna be pretty.

Of course then there are those that say the economy is just fine and going through an adjustment. Put off those mods and start saving your cash.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

wow, time to bust out the alternative energy vehicles and DRILL IN UNITED STATES!

xknowonex

iTrader: (2)

Im seriously considering working to get a motorcycle license this summer just to be prepared.

If gas hits $5 or more, here is my personal solution



Im sure the road by then should be clear enough to make riding a little safer.

Personally, I don't care much for bikes but it is sure alot better than driving a Yaris, Prius, or taking a bus

Hartawan

iTrader: (1)

Look at the bright side... less traffic

Vladi

If it goes up to $10 in the rest of the world it wil be $20.
But few people would be very happy if it hits that high, heck even today they have huge record profits.

whazzzzuup

iTrader: (11)

Pearlpower, I agree with you. The rise in gas prices at this alarming rate with little signs of leveling off is such a shock to me, and probably to most of the American people. It's raising the price of EVERYTHING! Currently, there seems to be no increase in the American people's salaries (at least not at the rate of the fuel increase), yet the price of essential neccesities are increasing drastically. That, to me, spells doom.

Here are some personal calculations when/if it levels off at $8.00 a gallon for a 25 mpg vehicle. Keep in mind that this JUST filling up a vehicle (direct costs). NOT how it affects us when a farmer is filling up his tractor. When a truck driver fills up his big-rig. When an airline fills up their airplane. When a cop is filling up his patrol car:

Let's say a person drives 60 miles a day (work roundtrip, grocery store, etc.). Very common distance for me. I live in the Midwest.

60 miles x 7 days = 420 miles/week.

The car averages 25 mpg.

420miles/week divided by 25 miles/gallon = car uses 16.8 gallons of gas/week.

About a tank of gas in my GS400. Except I don't get 25 mpg!!!

14 gallons of gas/week x $8.00/gallon = $134.40 for gas per week. So it would cost you that much to fill up one tank!

$134.40 x 4 weeks = $537.60 a month for gas

So over $500 a month. And that is for a car that gets 25 miles per gallon commuting only 60 miles a day. That's a big bite out of most American salaries just for the fill-up of one small(er) daily commuter (not their best-selling Ford trucks and SUVs). What if they have 2-3 cars in their household?

My personal solution will be carpooling with as many people as possible in a Civic then splitting the fuel costs. I'll still be broke!!!

Stormwind

On the up side : new cars will hold their values a lot better since there will be a lot less made and less people trading it every couple years. But the current cars you own won't do so well tho...

The high gas prices will also force auto makers to be more efficient. Looking at the truck/semi trucks on the road today they are not very aerodynamic nor are they very well designed.

tex2670

There will clearly be mass hysteria and panic if anything close to this happens. Remember, it was not very long ago that gas was under $2/gal (heck, I remember paying under $1 in NJ in '98 or '99). The price has ALREADY doubled in a relatively short time frame.

I just saw a story yesterday about a car break-in that included gas siphoning. Maybe it is something that has always happened on occasion but just gets press now because of gas prices, or maybe there's more to come of this. Wasn't it the late '70s or early '80s when car makers started offering locking gas caps??

-FreeRide-

I'm a cyclist and already bike fairly often. I'm a poor college student as is. If gas prices reach $6+ I will have to give up racing entirely because I wouldn't be able to afford to drive to bike races. I have already considered a motor cycle as a daily... Something needs to change. As things are heading right now we're in a downward spiral with no real end in sight.

mmarshall

The main problem here is a very difficult world market for oil, and some things beyond our control. You can thank the growing demand for oil in Asia....particularly China with its exploding economy......for pushing up world demand. You can also thank international oil speculators who bid the price of crude up for unjustifiable means....sometimes it borders on panic. You can also thank the fact that the environmantalist crowd, here in the U.S. is preventing new drilling and refinery construction. We also have delayed somewhat in our conversion from gasoline and diesel fuel to other non-petroleum fuels for cars and trucks. We can't do anything about the Asian economies, but we CAN control the other factors...and we better get moving, especially on new drilling and refineries. The American public is not going to put up with $10 a gallon....when that happens, the anti-drilling and anti-refinery politicians will be swept clean out of office. It will be a political blowout.

kt22cliff

If you think gasoline is going to $8 or really anything beyond $5 at the pump, there are alot of ways to cap/hedge.

Most straight up method would be buying the gasoline futures at NYMEX if you can clear NYMEX margin requirement - I think slightly under $10k.

If that's too much money to be tied up, you can do any of the following or dozen other ways I don't have to time to type up;

1) Buy USO or buy call option on USO - it's crude not gasoline and USO in it of itself doesn't track crude price "exactly" so it's not directly correlated but pretty close. If gasoline is $8 at the pump - double what it is now - you can bet your farm USO will have doubled more or less.
2) Short DUG or buy put options on DUG - DUG is oil and gas double short so it basically moves in opposite direction of oil/gas so if oil/gas doubles from here on out DUG will crash.
3) Buy refiners like VLO or TSO or buy call options on those - Again similar to USO but not as attractive of an play as they might have operational issues that can affect the stock - a hurricane destroys one of its refinery etc - but that works both ways also. It doesn't also track exactly to gasoline price at the pump. The stock prices more or less tracks the crack spread - price difference between crude and the refined products.

mmarshall

I don't think we'll actually see $10 a gallon here in America, or even $8 like you theorize...I only said what I thought would happen IF it did.

Americans have been reluctant to cut back on the driving even with the current high prices, but sooner or later there will be no choice. You can't keep robbing from Peter to Paul....cutting back on other things to keep the tank full....forever. I'm also concerned that there will be an increase in gas-stealing and siphoning, especially in many domestic-nameplate vehicles that don't have locking gas caps.