Monday, December 13, 2004

I’ve commented before on the change in gas price behavior that seemed to take effect in mid-June of this year. During the first half of 2004, price hikes came weekly, and margins were allowed to get down to about 10 cents before a hike. Since then, we’ve hit the 0-margin price several times, including today, with prices below $1.60. I haven’t adjusted my thinking to this consumer-friendly pricing scheme. Nevertheless, for the third Monday in a row, I’m predicting a price hike this week, and this time I will be right. The new price will be in the neighborhood of $1.81 and could come as soon as this evening. Prices reset to $1.79 on Thursday, so the prediction was CORRECT, although by Thursday, I thought we’d see something more like $1.89.