Oil

Jun 9, 2009 9:07 pm

WTF!!!

Jun 14, 2009 12:22 am

That is what I am pitching right now! Unleaded gas. People LOVE it!! Its only going up!

Jun 15, 2009 4:45 am

Look at one of the several articles on it’s larger peer - USO

Jun 15, 2009 12:41 pm

Covered Call strategy on USO is looking good.

Jun 15, 2009 1:35 pm

Let's see?

Oil demand is 20% less than one year ago.

Crude inventories are nearing 20 year highs.

Unemployment is 9% and still rising.

Yet, oil prices have doubled since March?   What happened to good old supply and demand?
Jun 15, 2009 2:09 pm

Ryan 561 and his ilk happened to good old supply and demand!  It is now driven by speculation.  Let them drive it higher for a bit, maybe then people will again turn the heat up on the auto industry to bring us more fuel efficiency.  20mpg you have got to be kidding me!

Jun 15, 2009 2:22 pm

Have you seen the new Camaro?  300HP with the 6 and 29 MPG highway.  With the original you would have had to beef up your 350 to get 300HP and you might have gotten 10 mpg highway with all four barrels opened.  And you want more fuel efficiency?  If you want fuel efficiency, move to France.  Lots of bikes, smart cars, and mopeds over there. 

  I want to have someone make me a bumper sticker that says "I'll call your Prius and raise you an F250."
Jun 15, 2009 2:37 pm

Spiff,

First, no I have not seen the new Camaro.  It is not a car I'd be looking to buy either.  I'm a family man with two kids, we just bought a Toyota Highlander and it is only 24mpg or so on the highway.   So the original camaro came out when?  I'm guessing some time in the 60's and forty years later we have improved all the way up to 29mpg.  Forgive me while I fight to control my euphoria.  It is nice to see however that it is up to 29mpg.  With your comment you seem to say that you don't want better fuel efficiency.  I find it hard to believe that we can't be innovative enough to have all vehicles getting 30- 40mpg.  It probably should be more.  By the way, I own 5 bicycles, it's my guilty pleasure. 
Jun 15, 2009 2:44 pm

Speculators are driving oil prices higher. There is no supply and demand connection.

  Interestingly, many believe it was the economic slow down that brought oil prices down. That's partially true. But an equal if not bigger factor was the credit lock up. The big banks and financial institutions were also the biggest specualtors driving up prices. (The speculators were controlling the markets. This largely happening because of the Enron loophole that allows OTC trading of oil contracts without supervision. Congress needs to close that loophole.) The credit lockup put the biggest players on the sidelines. They had no cash to speculate with. So as oil prices dropped the were unable to cash in to push prices back up. That has now changed and these guys are back to business as usual.   Yeah, I love it when people demand better gas mileage without knowing the facts. The new Camaro is a great case in point. 300 plus ponies out of a Detroit six cylinder. A high performance, fun to drive car that gets Camry like gas mileage.
Jun 15, 2009 3:13 pm

BG,

  100% agreement with speculators of the oil markets!  Not quite 100% on demanding better gas mileage.  We should be demanding more from our auto industry.  The only fact that I need to know is that I feel that we should have all vehicles getting much better gas mileage than we currently are.  Maybe the technology isn't there, if it isn't it is because we as consumers have not demanded the innovation. 
Jun 15, 2009 3:14 pm

[quote=jkl1v1n6]

Spiff,

First, no I have not seen the new Camaro.  It is not a car I'd be looking to buy either.  I'm a family man with two kids, we just bought a Toyota Highlander and it is only 24mpg or so on the highway.   So the original camaro came out when?  I'm guessing some time in the 60's and forty years later we have improved all the way up to 29mpg.  Forgive me while I fight to control my euphoria.  It is nice to see however that it is up to 29mpg.  With your comment you seem to say that you don't want better fuel efficiency.  I find it hard to believe that we can't be innovative enough to have all cars getting 30- 40mpg.  It probably should be more.  By the way, I own 5 bicycles, it's my guilty pleasure.  [/quote]   Not everyone wants cars that are purely utilitarian. But that's not the point here. Detroit and the rest of the world have made great strides in fuel economy over the past 30 years. 30 years ago pickup trucks that were getting 7 mpg. Today they are getting 20. Even your SUV gets almost double the mileage than that of earlier versions of Toyota's mid size SUVs.   One comment on your pro fuel mileage stance:  As the owner of a crossover vehicle it's tough for you to claim the high road in the green debate here or elsewhere. A Crossover vehicle is nothing more than a parts bin vehicle that doesn't do anything as well as the pure vehicles it's based on. For sake of this comment I'll limit that to fuel economy. The Highlander is an SUV body on a Camry platform. The Camry gets significantly more gas mileage than does the Highlander. For a pro evironment person there is no reason to buy a crossover like the Highlander. The Camry even gets better mileage than the hybrid Highlander. Both vehicles will carry five passengers. And as an SUV, when compared to other mid sized SUVs like the Grand Cherokee or Ford Explorer the Highlander comes up way short on utility. That's not to say it isn't a nice vehicle, because it is. In areas of ride quality and the like it puts the Jeep to shame. Still, it's not a green vehicle.
Jun 15, 2009 3:30 pm

Forgive me …although fuel efficent vehicles are the nice but looking at Oil Companies as an Investment is the point. Putting aside the current decrease in demand and the anticipated green technology. Oil is still here and not likely to disappear in the very near future as an energy source.

In early 2009, Suncor....SU on the TSX , near a 52 week low ....bought and holding. Announced merger with PetroCanada to create the fifth largest Oil Company in North America. Quality investment and the opportunity to hold shares in a World Class Company that would be my point.
Jun 15, 2009 3:41 pm

This is just a difference in opinion, you think that 7mpg to 20mpg over 30 years is great strides, I don’t.  I think with the technological advances and innovations we’ve had in the world that the auto industry is coming up way short. 

  I'm also not trying to claim the environmental high road here.  If I was I would have purchased the Prius.  I'm a typical selfish American.  I wanted a mid sized SUV, I wanted a vehicle that looked good (personal preference but other than the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited I've liked very little American manufacturers have made), optional third row seat, four-wheel drive, and a comfortable ride.  All I am saying is I feel they are years behind where they should be (again in my opinion) on fuel economy.  I am also, right or wrong, substantially biases toward Toyota and Honda in regards to durability.    There is no debate to be won here you and I just have differing opinions.   
Jun 15, 2009 4:17 pm

[quote=jkl1v1n6]This is just a difference in opinion, you think that 7mpg to 20mpg over 30 years is great strides, I don’t.  I think with the technological advances and innovations we’ve had in the world that the auto industry is coming up way short. 

  I'm also not trying to claim the environmental high road here.  If I was I would have purchased the Prius.  I'm a typical selfish American.  I wanted a mid sized SUV, I wanted a vehicle that looked good (personal preference but other than the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited I've liked very little American manufacturers have made), optional third row seat, four-wheel drive, and a comfortable ride.  All I am saying is I feel they are years behind where they should be (again in my opinion) on fuel economy.  I am also, right or wrong, substantially biases toward Toyota and Honda in regards to durability.    There is no debate to be won here you and I just have differing opinions.   [/quote]   Way short? How so? Tripling fuel economy without gving up utility or performance is a great stride. Your SUV gets about 20% better fuel mileage than does a Grand Cherokee. That's because the Highlander is so lightly built. It will tow less than half what the jeep can tow and is an AWD, not a real 4wheel drive. Build the Toyota to do everything the Jeep can do and the mileage would be about the same.   As for durability, you should have bought the Wrangler. You can't kill those things. I've owned three jeeps and had gotten good service from each. A friend of mine just rolled his 95 Grand Cherokee. it had 286,000 miles on it. He has people calling him to buy the drive train, engine tran etc. People know these vehicles believe in them. They know how good they are.
Jun 15, 2009 5:03 pm

I’m with you on the Jeep, I still want one but this was for my wife, I believe the only one with the third seat was the extremely boxy looking commander.  Just didn’t like the look, also mpg below twenty I believe.  Next new vehicle will be mine and it will be the 4 door Unlimited in red with the freedom top. 

  Here's why I think it is short.  Since the invention of cars, we've put men into space and invented computers.  Nanotechnology, whatever the hell that is, how can we only triple fuel economy?    Like I said this is a debate that cannot be one from either side.  There isn't anything you can say that would make me believe they've done all they can to increase fuel efficiency AND maintain performance.    Let's put this dog to rest.