Gas Price Gougers #&@%!

[MossRoad]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree completely. The puzzle to me is: (1) why they built New Orleans on such low ground to start with, many, many years ago, and (2) why anyone would be living there unless he/she had to.

And I will add to that, why did they allow it to be rebuilt? It has been wiped out several times and no matter what they do, it will be wiped out again.

 

[MossRoad]

If you guys don't stop disagreeing with me, I'm going to have as many posts as Bird by next week.

At least you aren't ticked off yet!

I remember watching the planes hit the towers on T.V. back in 2001. When I left work that day, the gas station on the corner had jacked the price way, way up. There is no way in heck that that dealer had found out what his next load was going to cost that fast. I stopped going to that station for fuel and have never been back... however, EVERY station in the area also jacked up their prices, just not as fast and not as much until a few days later. As much as I disagree with them doing it, I realize a few things.

A. Ours is a market driven economy... we sell things for as much as people are willing to pay.
B. People panic in mass.

For instance, my wife and I used to go grocery shopping every Tuesday evening. God help us if some doofus weatherman predicts a snow storm on a Tuesday 5:00 newscast. We have trouble buying milk, bread, etc... because every panic stricken nut is out there grabbing it up by the cartload. That is why we keep lots of food and water on hand at home and it won't hurt us if we miss grocery shopping for a couple weeks in case of emergency.

As for living in a hurricane region, you should by now realize that time and time again people will panic, gas prices will spike, you may not get out of the area if you wait too long and that is the lot you have chosen in life.

As I sat at a baseball game one time, a bat came flying into the stands and knocked some guy out. A drunk guy behind me stood up and yelled,
"Nice seats! Hey buddy?"

That's where you choose to live, knowing all this will happen over and over again.

 

[tallyho8]

And I will add to that, why did they allow it to be rebuilt? It has been wiped out several times and no matter what they do, it will be wiped out again.

Katrina did pretty much wipe out New Orleans but in my 60 odd years living in this area, I don't remember it being wiped out before.

I think they rebuilt, er, started to rebuild New Orleans because they went to 40 different cities (South Bend was the first one) and asked them if they each wanted to take in 10,000 New Orleans refugees or rebuild New Orleans and they unanimously agreed to rebuild New Orleans.

I gotta go now. If you don't hear back from me in a few weeks, Gustav got me.

 

[Ductape]

On the news today:
Consumers who's gasoline is coming from the gulf area should expect a price increase of 5 to 7 cents per gallon (on averge) due to the storm.

Much less than 40 cents/gallon.

 

[MossRoad]

Katrina did pretty much wipe out New Orleans but in my 60 odd years living in this area, I don't remember it being wiped out before.

I think they rebuilt, er, started to rebuild New Orleans because they went to 40 different cities (South Bend was the first one) and asked them if they each wanted to take in 10,000 New Orleans refugees or rebuild New Orleans and they unanimously agreed to rebuild New Orleans.

I gotta go now. If you don't hear back from me in a few weeks, Gustav got me.

South Bend has a 40% home vacancy rate. That's right, 4 out of 10 homes are empty. We could use as many people as you could send, but there aren't many good paying jobs here anymore.

Good luck with Gustav! Be cautious and safe. We'll be thinking about you.

 

[toy]

Something that I have thought about as I watch the people getting prepared for a pending hurricane that might or might not hit their area, you see them on tv buying plywood to board up their windows and doors. I am under the impression that they do this every time there is a threat, my question is if that is a normal thing to have to do why don't the people build a strong hinged shutter that could be folded back out of the way when not needed but during a threat they could close it over their windows and doors and bolt it down and swing it out of the way when the storm is over. It could be made attractive so that when not in use it wouldn't distract from the appearance of the rest of the house. If I lived there I might realize whether that would work or not. I would also look for ways that would limit my damages from the winds and also from the flooding that usually occures. There was a man in the town where I grew up that his house was located in a low place and every time that the river flooded his house got water in it. To solve the problem he built a wall around his house and put drains in the wall that he could open up to let water out after the river went down. Anyway he never had anymore problems with flooding, I know that pales in comparrison with what is about to hit the sothern states, but I would be racking my brain to figure out a solution and would invest in it.

 

[smfcpacfp]

Pardon me. I did not realize that you label someone a whiner when they make a post on something of concern to them on a tractor forum. Perhaps none of us should ever whine when our John Deere clutch goes out or our Kubota hydraulics fail.

We especially should not whine about anything as trivial as the gas stations in their area immediately raising the price of gas 40 cents a gallon when a major evacuation order is issued for 1,000,000 to flee the area for their lives. So what if every gas station has lines a block long already and we only have half a tank of gas and don't know if the gas station in the next town will be out of gas by the time we get there. These station owners are only following the great American concept of making more money anytime, anyway that they can. So what if a few thousand people are unable to pay the higher prices and can not evacuate. It can't be any worse than Katrina, can it? Only a few thousand dead, but they don't count because they are the poor who can't afford to help you reach your record profit potential anyway.

I guess if you're a doctor and someone is lying in front of you facing imminent death unless they get that injection, then it is ok to charge $1,000,000 for the injection. If they don't like it they can just go to another doctor, huh?

I don't need anybody to take care of me and I have never accepted a penny of charity in my life and hope to never have to but I don't look down on all those who do need help in adverse situations.

And if there are any whiners out there who I might be able to help in some way, please feel free to pm me. I will be glad to help you if I can.

Like I said, quit whining. It is annoying. Rather than whine, do something about the problem: develop alternative fuels, find more crude oil, develop a cheaper refining process, but don't just complain without offering a solution.

By the way gas prices dropped here about 8 cents a gallon over the last few days.

 

[sandman2234]

Well, bottom line on my posts, are I hope nobody dies from any hurricanes, or gets flooded out of their homes and that the prices of things essential to life are kept within everyone's price range, but then I am dreaming, because things are going to happen and people are going to have problems. How we prepare for them, and react to them will be the judge of what becomes of us.
Hopefully somebody can explain to me the basic's of retail sales that Bird seems to think I know nothing about. I just don't understand how I can't stay on top of my business as long as I ALWAYS MAKE MONEY on the things I sell. True, I might have to keep a few dollars squirreled away to allow me to purchase an increase in inventory prices, but as long as I ALWAYS MAKE MONEY from each and every item, the purchase of the next item is merely a cash flow problem, which to the unprepared retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer or importer, it can put you out of business. If I pay $1,493 for a generator,(retailed for $2,300) keep it for 15 years and sell it for $2,000 when the new model costs $2,900, have I made a big mistake in my business or did I just make a killing? True it will cost me more out of my pocket to replace the generator, but I just got 15 years use out of it, and the guy that paid me for it is still happy as can be. As long as I continue to reinvest part of my profits back into the business, and always make more money than it cost me to buy and own, I would think I would be ok. (Granted their are inflation and costs of running a business but that comes into ALWAYS MAKE MONEY)
This thread is almost like a political thread, everybody has an opinion and they all stink!
(including mine!!)
David from jax

Best of luck to you guys near the Gulf Coast and wherever the storms/floods decide to happen.
David

 

[Bird]

David, you're not wrong and I don't disagree . . . , but . . . there's just a little more to it than that. We wish it was that simple.

 

[LMTC]

Hopefully somebody can explain to me the basic's of retail sales that Bird seems to think I know nothing about. I just don't understand how I can't stay on top of my business as long as I ALWAYS MAKE MONEY on the things I sell. True, I might have to keep a few dollars squirreled away to allow me to purchase an increase in inventory prices, but as long as I ALWAYS MAKE MONEY from each and every item, the purchase of the next item is merely a cash flow problem, which to the unprepared retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer or importer, it can put you out of business.
Best of luck to you guys near the Gulf Coast and wherever the storms/floods decide to happen.
David

Merely a cash flow problem? I realize this may read as sarcastic, and I assure you it is not written with that intent....but if you really don't understand "how I can't stay on top of my business as long as I ALWAYS MAKE MONEY on the things I sell." it's possible the only way you would understand is to operate a business for several years, particularly in a market with lots of variables and fluctuations. I have, for 14 years now, and I can truly say the things I did not understand the first 5 years or so nearly buried the business....and most of them had to do with cash flow and available capital.

This is just one isolated example....due to the incredible increases in steel and freight over three years, we found ourselves with one large item on the lot that we had paid app. $2000 for two years ago, and at that time were selling for $2400. Now one might initially think the profit to be $400, but with overhead and all costs of business the net profit on such an item ends up being more like $200. This spring the cost of said item, after numerous increases, was $2700 and change. We now have to have $2700 + to buy another one....so we should sell that one for $2400 and do what? Pull money from personal savings? We would technically "make money" at $2400, but when you multiply that times 20 product lines, and 3 items per line, the cash flow is a nightmare....you have to adjust selling price based on current replacement cost in most businesses. If this doesn't help, I'm sorry (sincerely...again, I really have no intention to be sarcastic)....I'm not sure it would have helped me either. Even as I watched it happen to our business it was hard for me to accept that simply making a margin on each transaction was not sufficient. Cash flow, peripheral expenses, loss of interest on the money tied up in inventory, and many other factors are huge and sometimes nearly unpredictable factors.

It isn't often, but when someone becomes aggressive and says our pricing is too high I generally suggest they go into the business for themselves and make their fortune underselling us. For anyone suggesting a given company is making too much money, I suggest the same....either become their competition and take advantage of their overpricing, or buy stock in them.