ThinkSnow
Member
Maybe lower prices at the pump will coax them to at least drive faster.
Getting them out of the fast lane is another story....
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Oil nearly falls below $80 on oversupply
- Thread starter Puck it
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Maybe lower prices at the pump will coax them to at least drive faster.
Getting them out of the fast lane is another story....
Puck it
Well-known member
xwhaler
Active member
I like seeing lower Home Heating oil prices too. Paid $2.99/gal for a delivery on Tuesday this wk, by Wed my supplier dropped another $.10
I only bought 100 gals so if prices continue to drop I can buy again. Would never ever get into a pre-buy or fixed rate contract for HH oil.
I only bought 100 gals so if prices continue to drop I can buy again. Would never ever get into a pre-buy or fixed rate contract for HH oil.
bobbutts
New member
BenedictGomez sucks.
drjeff
Well-known member
In all seriousness, that general concept, more of the plane flight issue and the "casual" interactions you have with people while in an airport, weren't lost upon myself, my business partner and 2 of my staff members who were also in Texas last week as we flew home yesterday (and we got to the airport soon after the news of the second Texas case where she had flown the day before).
If it does take "direct" contact between the infected person, the next time your in a public bathroom, just think about how "easy" one could come in contact with potential virus sources just from say a door handle or the handle for a faucet on a sink, or from that person who just left the stall and either hasn't yet or even possibly doesn't use the sink to wash after
As someone who spends a great deal of time around some of other people's bodily fluids (especially in either liquid or aerosolized forms), I've learned to trust and have great respect for what are called "universal infection control protocols" and also our own immune systems, but I will admit on some level, this ebola issue does worry me a bit.....
Cheaper gas, and longer drives instead of flying might not be a "bad" thing for a while
mister moose
Well-known member
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Ridiculous profits? Time to rethink where you get your information from.
Lets put some numbers to this.
Here's a few of the largest companies in the US by total revenue (fy 2013): All numbers in Billions.
Exxon - 491
Walmart - 476
Berkshire Hathaway - 182
Apple - 171
GE - 146
Now lets look at their (net) profits, re-ranked in order.
Apple - 37
Exxon - 33
Berkshire Hathaway - 20
Walmart - 17
GE - 17
None of this means much by itself. The fact that Exxon had 491 Billion in revenue just means its a big company that had a lot of money pass through. It's what you get to keep that matters. What we really want to know is the margin, ie how much of each dollar taken in at the cash register is kept as profit. That's called margin, profit margin. So here we go. The next numbers are simply net profit divided by gross revenue, expressed as a percent.
Apple - 21.6%
Berkshire Hathaway - 10.7%
GE - 11.6%
Exxon - 6.7%
Walmart - 3.6%
Huh. Now who has the "ridiculous profits"? When you spend $400 on an Ipad, $86.40 goes in the pocket of Apple. When you buy $400 of gas from Exxon in a month, $26.80 goes in the pocket of Exxon, a third of what Apple makes. When you buy a flat screen at Walmart for $400, only $14.40 goes in the pocket of Walmart. That's a sixth of what Apple makes.
Exxon and Walmart are actually remarkably efficient at delivering their products at a very low mark-up. You should be glad Exxon isn't making profits at the rate of Berkshire, GE, or Apple.
Again, you can argue that Exxon is too big. I'd listen to that. The problem is how to restrict size when the competition is in other countries (BP, Shell Oil) are that size, and if you restrict the size of US companies you doom our domestic ownership to foreign entities.
I don't work for any of these companies. But I'm concerned that you vote based on huge misconceptions like I outlined above.
There are lots of recent news stories on the greed of Walmart. Walmart does an incredible job of delivering goods at a very low cost. I ask a different question - who is the greedy one, the one who delivers the goods (A whole lot of goods at that) at an extremely low cost, or the one who shops there to take advantage of those low prices? Look in the mirror. It is the consumer's greed that drives Walmart, but that headline doesn't sell newspapers.
Not Sure
Well-known member
Not sure about all of the Dynamics of the recent drop.
I think a part is due to the Natural gas influence
My small co. Is responsible for about 30,000 gallons less per year in oil
Usage.
We spend about $900.00 per month in fuel for trucks,
Lovin the drop !
That being said , when the stock market drops , All those "Evil " rich people stop spending
money on other projects.
2008 was a game changer , Product quality suffer as no one stocks anything anymore, last minute production
I had a 70% fail rate with one brand of equipment.
Lower oil is a killer for Solar and other alternative energy.
Lots of moving parts , place your bets?
I think a part is due to the Natural gas influence
My small co. Is responsible for about 30,000 gallons less per year in oil
Usage.
We spend about $900.00 per month in fuel for trucks,
Lovin the drop !
That being said , when the stock market drops , All those "Evil " rich people stop spending
money on other projects.
2008 was a game changer , Product quality suffer as no one stocks anything anymore, last minute production
I had a 70% fail rate with one brand of equipment.
Lower oil is a killer for Solar and other alternative energy.
Lots of moving parts , place your bets?
Puck it
Well-known member
The other one that gets me besides profits is the oil subsudies.
The summary of oil-related subsidies in the U.S. for 2010 totals $4.5 billion. That is a number often put forward; $4 billion a year or so in support for those greedy oil companies.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/energys...il-subsidies-persist-even-liberals-love-them/
steamboat1
New member
Cannonball
New member
Thank god I don't have to buy an iPad and flat screen TV every month.
Puck it
Well-known member
Off topic a little, but have you seen the prices on TV's. I saw a 60" 1080P at Wally World for $800 for few weeks ago.
x10003q
Active member
It is totally meaningless to compare 5 companies from 5 different industries.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Typical NVA, intellectual comment from this poster.
drjeff
Well-known member
Why?
If a company makes a 3% or a 7% or a 12% or a 20% profit margin then that's an apples to apples (no pun in this case intended!) comparison.
If 1 company makes a million dollars profit at say a 2% margin and another makes a million dollars of profit on a 50% margin, then who's the "lesser" company (obviously speaking from social standpoint here)?
If a company has a good or service that they produce and/or sell and they can get enough people to buy it for whatever amount they can get for it, then as I see it, GREAT for them!
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
That's not likely going to happen.
Just because you hear this repeated 1002 times in the media, doesn't make it true. It's absurdly overstated. There's really nothing special or unique about this, it's 90% political talking point meant to deceive the public. Now subsidies to Wind & Solar? Holy poop those are real, and they're huge. Yet ya dont hear about them nearly as much as "oil subsidies" do you? Hmmmmm...... gosh I wonder why that is?
Gee, I sure hope that's not true. Please dont tell anyone! A lot my friends and former coworkers will lose their jobs!
dlague
Active member
agreed!
SkiFanE
New member
I'm happy. We heat 2 homes with oil, sucked big time last year. So...personally my economy is going to like this very much. Gas prices are really no big deal to me, it's the effing oil that kills us. Last year it was $600/mo in our MA house, and we never put thermostat about 64* (60* at night). Saving 20% would save us $120/month - but we bought a woodstove for winter and hoping to cut back in half anyway.
Wood in ME was rediculously priced this winter, more than it was in MA...hope it doesn't exceed oil next year lol.
Wood in ME was rediculously priced this winter, more than it was in MA...hope it doesn't exceed oil next year lol.
Cannonball
New member
I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic. On this forum at least (from you) that's ALL we hear about.
SkiFanE
New member
Ski fan you gotta buy it tree length
Haha...not for Maine, but for MA we have 5 huge oaks in woods that came down in Hurricane Sandy that we're chopping up. Here's what I did chopping on Monday, new maul...probably made in China...wtf? :
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