Comment on the October 3 prediction: Prices jumped to $3.95 on Friday, so the prediction was quite WRONG!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 7:30PM: That jump Friday was surprising, as it looks like Big Red and friends were really reaching for some new profits. Now, we got a good drop today in wholesale prices, 15 cents lower than they were on Friday. I’ll repeat last Wednesday’s WRONG prediction: expect prices to fall tomorrow, Friday, and through the weekend. — Ed Aboufadel
Chicago spot closed at $2.62 yesterday. Speedway has a LOT of dropping to do.
I thought between retail profit, distribution, and taxes we were near a dollar over Chicago price, and there’s lots of places in Indiana around 3.64 or so…
I know in Ohio, we often see prices around 60-70 cents above Chicago. The “spike line” price is 60 cents +/- above Chicago. In sw Ohio, we’re currently $1 over(avg $3.60), so we have a way to go. Sam’s Club and Costcos are in the lower $3.40’s right now. Problem is, we have a lot of d-bags insisting on staying in the 3.79-3.89 range.
Price “gouging” is much more prevalent during price drops. The public is just happy to see the downward trend, not aware of the disconnect between how fast the down went at wholesale. This is all part of the plan behind wild swings in pricing. California cries out over 30¢ price swing? Come to the IN, MI, OH region where it is commonplace.
Keeping the retail up also allows for hope (expectation) that the wholesale or crude will trend upwards before the price bottoms out, so in an essence it smooths out the price curve to the detriment of consumers.
But one really has to wonder, why has this strategy not been replicated? the dominant market share is not really the reason, as states like Kentucky are still stuck with the effects despite less-than-complete retail domination. And, why is it that states like Illinois, typically ‘progressive’ (i.e. pro-consumer in theory) have done nothing to alleviate the effect in the Chicago area (tax income, that’s why)
Wow, Indiana has a .41 cent spike line deviation!! I’m sure economic hope or some middle east worries will jack everything back up by the end of the week.
I agree 100% TimmP. California whines over a .30 cent spike while in greedway states that’s the norm. A few months ago it shot up .46 cents a gallon in Indiana in one whack. We’re always getting screwed.
Does anyone know why chicago spot is tanking this past week? Down another 14c cents today to $2.4803.
Not that it’s a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, but these drops have been huge the past few trading days.
Chicago Wholesale down another 10¢+ at 12:40 today. The Zero Margin price should be pushing under the $3.00 barrier pretty soon? Meanwhile, stations are still selling at $3.50+
We’ve still got a few stations at $3.89 in sw Ohio.
I actually put E30 into my car. The downside for those who are on the fence about E85 or blender fuels (smaller blends of ethanol like E30) is that the price spread decreases. E85 is only 5 cents cheaper than regular gasoline at the Meijer in Bath Twp (East Lansing). It’s great to see gasoline prices fall, but it usually makes it less worth it for people to use E85 or blender fuels.
The pump prices fell quite a bit Tuesday afternoon. I was running on fumes, and stopped at Ricker’s and used their rewards card and bought 22 gallons at $3.38. Considerably cheaper than the AM price.
Why are gas prices suddenly falling. See attached CNBC article today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gasoline-prices-suddenly-falling-123356794.html;_ylt=Akhb_SP6zws9hrYKtTRXnMuiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ4YTlwaDZtBG1pdANDTkJDIFRvcCBTdG9yaWVzBHBrZwMwMWI2ZTlkNi0xYTQzLTM5NWQtYThlZS1mMmRiNmU5MjVkYzQEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgMzYTkxMjc3OC0xOTIyLTExZTItOWIwZC04YzAzYzEzOWE5YmE-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3
Is it just me or is Greedway taking their sweet time (gouging) bringin’ down the price? While the Chicago spot with the taxes included has had a gap nearly 40 cents for a couple of weeks.
With spot prices jumping 20 cents, you gotta wonder if Greedway’s trigger finger is itching for a spike.