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Non-Tech : Kirk's Market Thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert b furman who wrote (3029)	4/30/2015 9:45:35 AM
From: Gottfried	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26972

Bob, I think the oil service doomsayers are trying to keep us from buying until their paymasters have bought new positions. I own under water ESV and RIG [even]

To: robert b furman who wrote (3029)	4/30/2015 9:48:01 AM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 26972

I filled up my van Sunday for $3.199/gal. Yesterday the price was $3.499. This is only about $1 below the peak price or 23% below the record high... 1/4.449*100% = 22.5% yet gasoline prices are more than 50% off their peak prices. Why gas prices in California are so much higher than elsewhere in U.S. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in California has been fluctuating around $3.20 in March, nearly 80 cents more than the U.S. average. Above, prices are displayed at a gas station in Mill Valley, Calif., in early March. (Justin Sullivan, Getty Images) CAlifornians are used to gyrating gas prices, but the latest swing from the lowest in years to nearly a dollar above the national average is leaving drivers in a tizzy. Some are accusing oil companies of manipulating prices. The industry blames an explosion and a strike at two refineries. Academics say it's structural — the unique way California gets and sells gas. They may all be partially right. On Jan. 30, Californians paid an average of $2.43 for a gallon of gasoline, the lowest since May 2009, according to fuel tracking group GasBuddy.com. It shot up 93 cents in a month and has since been fluctuating around $3.20, nearly 80 cents more than the national average. The price uptick began shortly after Tesoro Corp. idled its Martinez, Calif., plant amid a nationwide walkout by union members. And on Feb. 18, an explosion at Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Torrance facility left four workers injured and the refinery unable to operate at full capacity. Federal investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board are investigating the refinery blast. Oil companies said market conditions such as supply and demand guide pump prices. In an email, Tesoro spokeswoman Tina Barbee also listed the cost of crude oil, distribution and marketing costs, refining costs and federal and state taxes as factors. The strike pushed up its operating costs to as much as $7.95 a barrel in California, the company said last week. More at latimes.com