.....and the screwing continues!!

[waltr]

Here is another side to look at. A bottle of water and gasoline is near the same price. When you look at the expense to produce the gasoline and the amount of tax on it, as to what it cost to produce the bottle of water (which in most cases is no better than tap water), who is screwing WHO?

But, the water comes in a plastic jug

 

[Don Ferrette]

Here is another side to look at. A bottle of water and gasoline is near the same price. When you look at the expense to produce the gasoline and the amount of tax on it, as to what it cost to produce the bottle of water (which in most cases is no better than tap water), who is screwing WHO?

Well if anyone would have told me 10 years ago I'd be buying bottled water..............

Food for thought- Evian, one of the biggest bottled water companies right? Spell the name backwards....

 

[waltr]

On the brighter side,

Inspite of Katrina and all of the other disasters,Insurance rates remain flat this year.

No kidding. I just renewed my Business package a few bucks cheaper than last year.

That includes liability(for safety products),workers comp,Health,auto etc.....

I was schocked. I figured,here we go again and I was pleasantly surprised.No increase.

Phew!

Still way too much,but the alternative is none.

 

[Tom Foley]

On the brighter side,

Inspite of Katrina and all of the other disasters,Insurance rates remain flat this year.

No kidding. I just renewed my Business package a few bucks cheaper than last year.

That includes liability(for safety products),workers comp,Health,auto etc.....

I was schocked. I figured,here we go again and I was pleasantly surprised.No increase.

Phew!

Still way too much,but the alternative is none.

Here in Florida it's a different story , my flood , wind , and home owners policies all doubled to an amazing totalof almost 7000.00 per year on my house ! My business package went up also but very little . All we can do is b----.

 

[Don Ferrette]

In fairness, Market Dispatches should note that Exxon's net profit margin (10.7% for the quarter and 9.7% for the year) is actually fairly moderate.

This is the way they want you to look at it. However, it's not that simple as the question remains- a percentage of how much? It doesn't matter when you are talking about 36 BILLION in pure bottom line profit, while the "trickle down effect" causes people to go without heat, gas, prices going up as this adds to the costs of any business, etc, etc. Now anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not one of those "bleeding heart liberals" by any stretch of the imagination, actually it's quite the opposite. But one think is for sure, you ain't seen nothin' yet..... h34r:

 

[piper_chuck]

The oil companies introduced no new and innovative product to reap these huge profits. All they did was to use a few unfortunate events as an excuse to raise prices. Fuel for heating and transportation are not luxury items, they are necessities. These exorbinant profits have shown people that this industry is out of control.

 

[desulfator]

I sort of groan or laugh (depending on my mood) every time I see headlines that scream that some large company made what appears to be an unreasonable profit.

What they publish is worthless information.

But I guess that does not stop people that do not take the time to think about it, from feeling victimized.

The headlines, like many of the periodicals I see near the grocery store checkout, are designed to spur your interest in buying their worthless articles. These ridiculous articles range from Big Foot being seen in a shopping mall or UFO's once again mischievously cavorting around on our planet somewhere.

The company's Return On Investment, the meaningful data, is never published.

Suppose you had a savings account that paid 1% interest on your savings.

Would it be earthshaking, if for a particular year, they paid you 2%???

Would you be giddy with joy if for $100 saved you got a meager $2 instead of the meager $1 at the end of the year??

Back in the 60's I remember the price of gasoline was about 25 cents per gallon. Today it is 10 times the price. At the same time I also remember that the price of a car was less than $2,000. Today it also is ten times the price.

It would appear that the price of gasoline is merely keeping pace with inflation.

To me the really sad thing is how many people take the bait the newspaper's offer and react to their printed non-information.

 

[waltr]

I sort of groan or laugh (depending on my mood) every time I see headlines that scream that some large company made what appears to be an unreasonable profit.

What they publish is worthless information.

But I guess that does not stop people that do not take the time to think about it, from feeling victimized.

The headlines, like many of the periodicals I see near the grocery store checkout, are designed to spur your interest in buying their worthless articles. These ridiculous articles range from Big Foot being seen in a shopping mall or UFO's once again mischievously cavorting around on our planet somewhere.

The company's Return On Investment, the meaningful data, is never published.

Suppose you had a savings account that paid 1% interest on your savings.

Would it be earthshaking, if for a particular year, they paid you 2%???

Would you be giddy with joy if for $100 saved you got a meager $2 instead of the meager $1 at the end of the year??

Back in the 60's I remember the price of gasoline was about 25 cents per gallon. Today it is 10 times the price. At the same time I also remember that the price of a car was less than $2,000. Today it also is ten times the price.

It would appear that the price of gasoline is merely keeping pace with inflation.

To me the really sad thing is how many people take the bait the newspaper's offer and react to their printed non-information.

I wouldn't even go there.Auto industry,bad example. Soon to be history.Read the writing on the wall.It can't support 9 pention plan members for only 1 working.Ticking time bomb looking for a time to explode.

And here comes Toyota,Nascar bound for 07 and Honda announced Nascar for 08'

Toyota is starting to dominate motor sports.1-2place finish in the 24hrs of Daytona.Also won the Copper Kettle midget race last weekend.

As we all know,win on Sunday,sell on Monday.

And now new cars from China are comming and under $10.000.We're screwed until an entire restructuring is done.

As a business owner,I do hear what you're saying though.I know I can "adjust " my bottom line to whatever.

But I don't agree with you on the headline issue 100%. Not only is it seen,it's felt in lower income heating oil expenses.

Later.

 

[Don Ferrette]

To me the really sad thing is how many people take the bait the newspaper's offer and react to their printed non-information.

No offense but how is this "non-information" when it's numbers released from the very companies themselves?? ROI numbers?? There haven't been any new refineries built for quite some time, the same plants just keep churning it out year after year. I'd say they're probably doing quite well & doubt they'd want those ROI's published. The only reason we know about these record setting earnings numbers is because they are required to disclose them by law. 3 months ago we were all hearing how it's going to be tough for a while & how the oil companies would be struggling to "get back on their feet". With these last quarter numbers setting record profits for all the oil companies the only people struggling are those coping with the pump prices. The money I spent so far heating my house has DOUBLED from last year & we have had a rather mild winter for this area. 36 billion in PURE NET BOTTOM LINE PROFIT (attention- net means after all you expenses are paid) in one year from just ONE oil company, so when is enough ...... enough? :blink:

 

[waltr]

To me the really sad thing is how many people take the bait the newspaper's offer and react to their printed non-information.

No offense but how is this "non-information" when it's numbers released from the very companies themselves?? ROI numbers?? There haven't been any new refineries built for quite some time, the same plants just keep churning it out year after year. I'd say they're probably doing quite well & doubt they'd want those ROI's published. The only reason we know about these record setting earnings numbers is because they are required to disclose them by law. 3 months ago we were all hearing how it's going to be tough for a while & how the oil companies would be struggling to "get back on their feet". With these last quarter numbers setting record profits for all the oil companies the only people struggling are those coping with the pump prices. The money I spent so far heating my house has DOUBLED from last year & we have had a rather mild winter for this area. 36 billion in PURE NET BOTTOM LINE PROFIT (attention- net means after all you expenses are paid) in one year from just ONE oil company, so when is enough ...... enough? :blink:

And net is also AFTER BONUSES!

 

[desulfator]

If you had invested in a stock 20 years ago, I suspect that you would still want a return on your investment.

Just because you had not recently invested more in something does not mean that your current investment should return near zero. Or would you accept anyone telling you that your investment is simply too old and worthless to have any return?

I try to remember that there is no point in worrying about things that I cannot change. It is a pointless expenditure of stressful emotion.

Now on the other foot, if the price of gas and oil upsets you, there are some things that you can do about it. It would require that you gut it up and make the investment of your time and money to see the projects through. But the end result would be well worth the investment.

The following examples will make a huge dent in what you pay for energy,

1. Drive diesel vehicles that have been converted to run on fryer oil. If you shudder at the thought of having a 200 gallon tanker vehicle to make the pickups from restaurants, then try to deal with the rendering companies that do make the pickups and get your fryer oil in bulk. They may even make deliveries to a home tank if you purchase in quantity. Specify that you want the unfiltered product that they pick up from their sources and design your own filtration system.

http://www.greasecar.com/

2. Heat your home with fryer oil. Companies do make furnaces that will burn it and waste oil. I suspect that the ordinary fuel oil furnace could be converted with little effort.

3. Coat your southern bearing roof space with photo voltaic (PV) panels. Route the output into a grid tie controller to slow the advance of your electric meter. In some states you can produce more electricity than you consume and get paid for your electrical production.

4. Pester your government representatives to mandate the installation of at least one E85 pump at all gasoline stations. Brazil did this and has ENDED reliance on foreign oil.

Let me repeat this, Brazil NO LONGER IMPORTS FOREIGN OIL. Also it has spawned a huge ethanol production which includes many new sugar cane farms and distillation facilities. Additionally, it caused a price reduction of refined petroleum products due to the competition and reduced demand.

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntl52722.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5061701440.html

5. I think it a shame that on a national level that building codes have not been updated to mandate the inclusion of PV panels on all new housing construction and roof repairs. This would immediately begin to turn the tide of energy consumption. In an era of $100,000 plus cost of a new home an additional $5,000 to $10,000 is a small price to pay for reduced energy costs.

6. The southwestern (sunshine) states could turn into energy exporters if there were state and federal programs to erect acres of PV panels in that area. It could even give them more bargaining power to import more water.

If you have taken the above mentioned steps, then in the future when some energy article is published with worthless information, you can pretty much ignore it.

In my view, the current administration's solution that oil prices can be solved by drilling for more oil and erecting more nuclear plants does not solve the problem.

Additionally, any administration that has close ties to the oil industry and foreign producers may not want to duplicate Brazil's independance of foreign oil. To them, it would be a conflict of interest.

 

[waltr]

A few years back,I had a water source heat pump installed in my home.Everyone thought I was nuts :blink:

There not laughing now. Not only do I not need Oil or natural gas,I get a break on all of my KWH.The heat pump is considered electric heat. So,my gameroom is a little cheaper to play in.

Now,If I could only do my shop.$3000 a month just for natural gas is a little steep.

As far as the Hybrids,I'm not complaining enough to switch.There just butt ugly and guttless.

 

[desulfator]

A few years back,I had a water source heat pump installed in my home.Everyone thought I was nuts :blink:

There not laughing now. Not only do I not need Oil or natural gas,I get a break on all of my KWH.The heat pump is considered electric heat. So,my gameroom is a little cheaper to play in.

Now,If I could only do my shop.$3000 a month just for natural gas is a little steep.

As far as the Hybrids,I'm not complaining enough to switch.There just butt ugly and guttless.

PV panels would also reduce the cost of your heat pump operating costs and your electric bill.

You might look into using fryer oil in a fuel oil furnace(s) at the shop. Sounds like you could buy fryer oil in enough quantity to get a break on taking some home or having it delivered at a substantially reduced price. If you were running converted diesel driven vehicles you could also tank up at work. You could also offer employees that drive converted diesel vehicles a reduced price for tanking up at work.

With respect to cars, I drive, by choice, APV's (best car made).

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/apv_enthusiasts/

I am considering dropping a diesel in at least one of the three that I own. Although, as I am retired and only pay about $10/week for gas I am considering installing a fuel oil furnace to run on fryer oil and it would be convenient to tank up at home.

There are many places out in the country where propane dealers make the furnace conversion. They and their customers are good sources for fuel oil furnaces and 200+ gallon tanks. In many instances you can get them free of charge!

If you were to get a fuel oil furnace and tank (free of charge), build your own filteration system and make a deal with a local rendering company for fryer oil at 20 cents a gallon, you could laugh all the way to the bank.

Restuarants that I have checked, pay pennies per gallon for fryer oil to be removed.

Folks that own businesses could even start up a fryer oil pickup company and virtually get their energy product at so low a price, high energy costs would be a thing of the past. Don't be afraid to compete and offer your sources to be paid a few cents a gallon instead of them having to pay for fryer oil removal. Consider how much you can lower your operating costs.

If your fryer oil is cheap enough you may even want to provide your electricity with a diesel generator.

You are only limited by your imagination and willingnes to tackle a worthwhile project.

The knocking you hear is the opportunity to profit!

 

[Heartbeat]

I just wounder if you could get past EPA/Smog on fryer oil. 200 gal is nothing I have 350 gal tankss

Mike

 

[ALLAN YUEN]

:blink: :blink: I can't believe that Sauli( Alwaleed bin Talal is the world's fifith-richest person) already buys Canadian Icons Hotels deal worth $3.9 billion US dollars :huh: Stole lot of money from american.