Comment on the May 19th posting: Prices re-set early last week to $3.99, as predicted. Then they went up again at the end of the week, briefly to $4.19, but on Memorial Day, we are back to $4.09. So the prediction was CORRECT — Speedway did resist going over $4 as long as possible — but the situation is depressing.
Monday, May 26, 2008, 4:00 PM: I was in Seattle most of last week, so I missed the fireworks on the price signs, but prices are similar in the new Northwest right now. After updating my spreadsheet, it looks like wholesale prices closed Friday at the high of the week, so a move back to $4.19 on Tuesday or Wednesday is possible. If there is silver lining, last year at this time prices topped out at $3.65 and then dropped in June down to $2.88, and prices in June were stable in 2005 and 2006. Also, last week’s pop in the energy markets may have been more due to speculators taking advantage of thinly-traded pre-holiday markets rather than reflecting actual demand. (That’s what I read, FWIW.) I’m not making an official prediction today, but I am hopeful for lower prices over the next four weeks.