We've been in the 4.30's for a while so you may have a little ways to go.

My biggest issue is the pricing compared to oil. Oil goes up $10 and gas goes up 20 cents. Oil drops $10 and gas drops 3 cents. Oil goes back up $10 and gas goes up ANOTHER 20 cents.

But, as someone else said, they've got us by the nuts and they know it.

$4.25 for regular at my local Shell station. It has been within a dime of that since memorial day. It doesn't seem to matter what the price of crude does.

Andy, the price of gasoline related to crude oil is conspicously missing from those charts. See what I mean? Noone will make that chart, cause it will prove exactly what I and SB are saying. The price either goes up artificially fast, comes down artificially slow, or a combination of the two. I know the oil companies' profit margin stays about the same. It's not them, it is the gas station owners, or the refiners that are making a higher profit margin right now. The price of gas in direct relation to the price of oil should be about $3.65. But it's nowhere close to that.

Oil price fell again today, will your gas station's prices go down tomorrow? They should, by at least $.05.

the purple line is gas, the green line is oil. They track pretty close but gas does not spike as abrubtly as oil

Well, yeah, I sort of see that, but that chart has too many other lines and the measurement is all in oil dollars. I guess I just want data points that show how much farther apart the relative price get when the price of oil goes up. Maybe I'll study that chart closer and see if I can make the chart myself. But I doubt it.

Why doesn't gas go down like oil prices?

Simple.

When a retailer fills his tanks with 10 cent higher gas, their tanks are "empty". So the price goes up 10 cents.

But when they fill up with 10 cent cheaper gas, for some reason someone ordered gas when the tanks were nearly full, so they have a little bit of cheaper gas mixed in with all that higher priced stuff. Price goes down 2 cents. If you're lucky, after 5 loads of gas, you'll actually see the 10 cent decrease. But---2 loads before that happens, the price went up 15 cents...


HOWEVER---as big a chip on my shoulder as I have about oil companies, that sort of 'price fixing' is practiced by nearly ALL businesses....if the lastest bushel of tomatoes goes up, ALL the tomatoes in the store goes up...

3 weeks ago I bought a seal kit for the Mariner outboard on the Party Cruiser. I paid like $56 for it. The package is dated 1994! It's been on their shelf for 14 years! Funny thing, my outboard is a 1995! ---I asked the counter guy "any way I can pay what it cost in '94, since YOU guys probably only paid $6 for it?" Was good for a laugh, but I was still out $56...

I can't speak to on land, but being involved where I slip my boat, our fuel is priced on replacement cost. A lot of things you buy every day are priced that way, too. Sometimes you take a bath, sometimes you make out.

Here in SW Michigan
$3.99 yesterday $3.86 today WTH! Probably be $4.25 tomorrow!

It's $4.25 today here. (Actually $4.34)

See, raise it 'til we squak, then back off a bit and will all feel so good. That's the game that got diesel from $1.36 in Fall 2001 to %5.00 today.

3.71 in Sylvania Ohio which is 1 Mile into Ohio from MIchigan
3.95 in Michigan

If gas stations around here aren't replacing their inventory in less than a week, they are doing something wrong, Todd. That's my point, they've all bought gas at a lower price, but not all are passing it on yet. That's my gripe.

Strange pricing around here. In town, stations peeked at 4.11 last week and have dropped to 3.78 today. Diesel peeked at 4.75 to 4.79 and has dropped to 4.69.

Ten miles away at a Flying J truckstop, prices peeked last week at 3.99 but have only dropped to 3.91. Diesel peeked at 4.69 there and dropped to 4.55 today. Flying J is usually a good .05 or .10 cheaper on both gas and diesel. Flying J's got to be turning gas over faster than local stations so not sure what's up with their gas prices.

Billy, there's a TON of great info in the links listed below the charts here..especially in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section... Petroleum Info

I am gonna study those charts when I get home later today, thanks!