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Economy- New Poll

Do You think the US Economy is Heading into or in a Recession--or a Depression?

  • No-the Economy is doing Fine

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes- a mild short Recession

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes- a prolonged Recession/Depression

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Economic Collapse

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Aplus (or is it A Minus when it really counts and the "time is right" :???: :wink: :p ) do those Viagra pills really work like TV advertises... :???:

I don't know, friend gave me one once back when they were new and the talk of the town. You are suppose to take them an hour before the activity starts. Well I was going to give them it a shot one night, took one and did not tell wife, 30 minutes later we got in an argument and I did not get no loving........True story! All I got was a headache out of the deal, not sure if it was from wife or the pill. :(
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
aplusmnt said:
Oldtimer said:
Aplus (or is it A Minus when it really counts and the "time is right" :???: :wink: :p ) do those Viagra pills really work like TV advertises... :???:

I don't know, friend gave me one once back when they were new and the talk of the town. You are suppose to take them an hour before the activity starts. Well I was going to give them it a shot one night, took one and did not tell wife, 30 minutes later we got in an argument and I did not get no loving........True story! All I got was a headache out of the deal, not sure if it was from wife or the pill. :(
Well knowing how fair you fight I'm pretty sure we can call that poetic justice :twisted: :wink:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Goodpasture said:
hopalong said:
..............Written on every court house and sherriffs office in Montana "Oldweener needs help"..........
You fixate on weeners, don't you sport? lust for them, do you? Again, as a pederaste, do you "Catch" or "pitch"? or just stand there with your mouth open waiting for whomever walks by?

Ol hoppy be the first in line ...... :wink: :lol:

1bobble.jpg


Larry Craig Bobblefoot
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Everyone has seen Bobblehead dolls, which are often handed out to fans at baseball games. In a hilarious twist, the St. Paul Saints are passing out Bobblefeet at this Sunday’s game, in the form of a miniature bathroom stall with a tapping foot (and a wide stance).

The description of the promotion doesn’t mention Senator Larry Craig, instead claiming ironically that the promotion is in honor of National Tap Dance day.
 

hopalong

Well-known member
Goodpasture said:
hopalong said:
..............Written on every court house and sherriffs office in Montana "Oldweener needs help"..........
You fixate on weeners, don't you sport? lust for them, do you? Again, as a pederaste, do you "Catch" or "pitch"? or just stand there with your mouth open waiting for whomever walks by?[/quote


Like always you liberals only print the part of the post that suits your agenda, it also appears that you know a lot about the subject, maybe You are like Larry :roll: How long have you been that way?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Street Talk

Whitney: Credit Crisis Will Hit You Next

Friday, May 30, 2008 8:44 AM



Meredith Whitney, the CIBC bank analyst who was one of the first to trumpet the woes of Citigroup and other major U.S. banks last year, says the credit crisis is “far from over.”


Next on deck, says Whitney, is the consumer sector, which is about to get hit hard.

“A lot of the credit market problems since last July will bleed into the consumer,” Whitney told Bloomberg TV.


“There is so much investor sentiment to the effect of ‘Let’s just have it be over.’ The problem is that consumer losses will mount, so bank managements will be caught off guard and have to reverse revenue.”


Two basic issues arise for the banking sector and economy, Whitney says.


“First, there has been an over-reliance on consumer liquidity coming from the securitization market. For example, for every dollar of mortgages put on bank balance sheets since 2000, seven times that rate has been securitized,” she notes.


“So as a result of the securitization shutdown, consumer liquidity will be constrained.”


The second problem is credit cards, she says.


“Regulators who clearly gaffed on the housing bubble will make up for lost time,” she says.


“They will make it so prohibitive for credit card lenders to make profits, which may be a good thing in the long term, that they will take $2 trillion off consumer balance sheets.”


For example, the new regulations announced by the Fed to cut back on onerous practices from credit card issuers will simply lead them to reduce the amount they’re willing to lend to consumers, Whitney says.


“Consumers will get it from all sides,” she says. “Consumer spending will decline, and consumer defaults will pick up.”


That’s bad news for the economy, Whitney points out. “Everyone will get a higher cost of borrowing,” she says.


“There’s only $800 billion of credit card debt outstanding, but over $4.7 trillion of unused lines outstanding. So when you cut that back substantially, everyone effectively gets a pay cut. No longer can you manage your cash flow.”


And obviously this situation doesn’t bode well for the biggest credit card issuers: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, American Express and Capital One, Whitney notes.


“Credit card issuers can’t raise rates, so they will cut back on all loans. Credit cards will have meaningfully lower profit potential.”


Whitney says some of the securitization market will rebound but not enough to prevent the economy from taking a major hit.


“The vast majority of securitizations have been shut down since July,” she points out.


And what’s the impact of that? “Over the last four years the average quarterly run rate was over $200 billion in mortgages originated,” Whitney says. In the first quarter of 2008, that figure dropped to $33 billion.

“I don’t think that comes back,” she says. “If you’re a fund manager, will you invest in mortgage-backed securities when there’s such a tarnish on them? You will get sued by your clients. So there’s a buyers’ strike.”


Result: Tight money, tight credit, and an economy on the skids.


http://money.newsmax.com/streettalk/whitney_credit_crisis/2008/05/30/100172.html?s=al&promo_code=636E-1
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Jun 3, 8:56 AM EDT


GM closing 4 truck and SUV plants in North America

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.

CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker's annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico. He also said the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued.

Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and the Chevy Volt electric vehicle in Detroit.

Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.

GM shares rose 36 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $17.80 in premarket trading.

The cuts will affect about 2,500 workers at each of the four facilities, although Wagoner did not know exact numbers. Many will be able to take openings created when 19,000 more U.S. hourly workers leave later this year through early retirement and buyout offers.

He said the company has no plans to allocate products to the four plants in the future.

The moves will save the company $1 billion per year starting in 2010. Combined with previous efforts, GM will have cut costs by $15 billion a year, Wagoner said.

Wagoner said GM's board approved the production schedule of the Chevrolet Volt, and the company plans to bring the plug-in electric car to showrooms by the end of 2010. The Volt runs on an electric motor and has a small engine to recharge its batteries.

He said the change in the U.S. market to smaller vehicles likely is permanent.

"We at GM don't think this is a spike or a temporary shift," Wagoner said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GM_SHAREHOLDERS?SITE=MTBIL&SECTION=TOP_STORIES&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
 

backhoeboogie

Well-known member
OT you are still pitching the gloom and doom and I am seeing farmers get $50K royalty checks each month. They have real money for the first time in their lives. They don't need "jobs" but jobs are abundant if anyone wants one. Wages are through the ceiling.

The economy has never been any better locally in my life time.

Keep looking for depressed regions and reporting them. Make it sound like the whole U.S. is in peril. We still don't qualify for recession for atleast another 6 months and things have to go bad first. You are so far gone it is unbelieveable. You make up new definitions for economy verbage continually.

http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=7026

Barnett Shale spurs new jobs and business growth
BY ED IRELAND
February 11, 2008
The booming energy business is creating thousands of new jobs and business opportunities across the Barnett Shale region, which covers 18 counties and 5,000 square miles in North Texas. The United States may be slipping into a recession, but the North Texas economy remains robust, in large part due to the natural gas drilling and related activity in the Barnett Shale.

This activity in the Barnett Shale area has already created an estimated 55,000-plus new jobs and will spur an additional 53,000 over the next 10 years, according to a 2007 economic study by The Perryman Group. What may come as a surprise, however, is where the new jobs are. They are not just in the oil and gas industry. In fact, the biggest growth area is in retail, which is estimated to see more than 15,000 new jobs over the next 10 years, thanks to all the Barnett Shale activity.

The second biggest growth area over the next decade is also surprising: restaurants and bars, with an estimated 8,000 new jobs. Third place is shared by the construction industry and the oil and gas industry, with about 3,200 new jobs estimated over the next 10 years.

What’s going on here? All the new cash injected into the region’s economy is fueling sales and job growth in virtually every industry, thanks to a phenomenon called “the multiplier effect.” The new dollars come from royalty payments to homeowners and local governments, wage increases in growing businesses and new salaries for all the new jobs being created.
For example, Tarrant County is estimated to have more than 1,000 landmen handling mineral rights leases for energy companies in Tarrant County, and at least that many scattered throughout the Barnett Shale region. Most of those jobs did not exist a few years ago. Law firms are seeing new clients for cases involving leasing and mineral rights. New hardware stores and restaurants are popping up all over to serve the new workers and activity on nearby drilling rigs.

So there is more money in the local economy to be spent on all sorts of things such as clothes, eating out, and new homes. But with the multiplier effect, every new dollar spent sets off a chain reaction. For example, as more clothes are purchased at the retail store, a storeowner needs to buy more clothes for a larger inventory and may need to buy more clothes racks and to hire new staff. These new employees spend part of their new salaries on lunch at a nearby café. With the cafe selling more lunches, it needs to hire more workers and buy more food. And on and on the multiplier effect ripples through the economy. Of course, local governments and school districts also benefit since more sales mean more tax revenue and more tax revenue means new parks and schools.
Even better news is that we are just at the beginning stage of all this economic growth. Drilling in the Barnett Shale is expected to continue for many years to come and each well is expected to produce natural gas for at least two or three decades and possibly longer. As horizontal drilling and water fracturing technologies improve, more gas will be produced from new and existing wells and the life of all wells will be extended.
The businesses that support the drilling and producing activity, such as equipment manufacturers and suppliers, engineering and geology firms and well service companies that have been headquartered in West Texas and South Texas for years, are arriving in force throughout the Barnett Shale region.

All and all, there is no question that gas drilling is a boon to the North Texas economy, bringing new jobs and business growth in all kinds of industries, not just the energy sector. We are fortunate to be living in an area that is somewhat insulated from any downturn in the national economy. Virtually everyone in the region stands to benefit in some way from the Barnett Shale for years to come.

Ed Ireland, is executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, a consortium of eight of the leading energy companies operating in the Barnett Shale that are dedicated to promoting energy education and best practices as it relates to oil and gas leasing, drilling, production, transportation and marketing in the Barnett Shale. For information, visit www.bseec.org.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
backholer
OT you are still pitching the gloom and doom and I am seeing farmers get $50K royalty checks each month. They have real money for the first time in their lives.

What an elitist comment..... :shock: Yep- times would be good if everyone had an oil well in their backyard :roll: :wink: :lol:

You don't seem to understand- that every downturn action creates an even greater reaction in the continuing domino effect of this economy catastrophy...

What effect will this have on cattlemen that need heavy duty pickups/trucks for work :???: Will this create less competition :???: Will this negatively effect their prices :???:
 

Mike

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
backholer
OT you are still pitching the gloom and doom and I am seeing farmers get $50K royalty checks each month. They have real money for the first time in their lives.

What an elitist comment..... :shock: Yep- times would be good if everyone had an oil well in their backyard :roll: :wink: :lol:

This comment shows exactly how ignorant you truly are OT. :roll:

I know several people who have had wells pumping for years that are as poor as a churchmouse. Not all wells are gushing 100's or 1,000's of barrels per day.

The price of oil has helped those guys that have wells and had shut them down because the energy costs of pumping exceeded the production income.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Mike said:
Oldtimer said:
backholer
OT you are still pitching the gloom and doom and I am seeing farmers get $50K royalty checks each month. They have real money for the first time in their lives.

What an elitist comment..... :shock: Yep- times would be good if everyone had an oil well in their backyard :roll: :wink: :lol:

This comment shows exactly how ignorant you truly are OT. :roll:

I know several people who have had wells pumping for years that are as poor as a churchmouse. Not all wells are gushing 100's or 1,000's of barrels per day.

The price of oil has helped those guys that have wells and had shut them down because the energy costs of pumping exceeded the production income.

Your buddy backholer thinks they are all doing quite well :wink: :lol:
 

Mike

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Mike said:
Oldtimer said:
backholer

What an elitist comment..... :shock: Yep- times would be good if everyone had an oil well in their backyard :roll: :wink: :lol:

This comment shows exactly how ignorant you truly are OT. :roll:

I know several people who have had wells pumping for years that are as poor as a churchmouse. Not all wells are gushing 100's or 1,000's of barrels per day.

The price of oil has helped those guys that have wells and had shut them down because the energy costs of pumping exceeded the production income.

Your buddy backholer thinks they are all doing quite well :wink: :lol:

They are doing better now than they ever have been...................
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Jun 3, 8:56 AM EDT


GM closing 4 truck and SUV plants in North America

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.

CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker's annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico. He also said the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued.

Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and the Chevy Volt electric vehicle in Detroit.

Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.

GM shares rose 36 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $17.80 in premarket trading.

The cuts will affect about 2,500 workers at each of the four facilities, although Wagoner did not know exact numbers. Many will be able to take openings created when 19,000 more U.S. hourly workers leave later this year through early retirement and buyout offers.

He said the company has no plans to allocate products to the four plants in the future.

The moves will save the company $1 billion per year starting in 2010. Combined with previous efforts, GM will have cut costs by $15 billion a year, Wagoner said.

Wagoner said GM's board approved the production schedule of the Chevrolet Volt, and the company plans to bring the plug-in electric car to showrooms by the end of 2010. The Volt runs on an electric motor and has a small engine to recharge its batteries.

He said the change in the U.S. market to smaller vehicles likely is permanent.

"We at GM don't think this is a spike or a temporary shift," Wagoner said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GM_SHAREHOLDERS?SITE=MTBIL&SECTION=TOP_STORIES&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

This cut and paste above is perfect example of a doom and gloom mentality vs a positive one.

Look at all the things you put in bold letters all the negative things you could find. But in reality there is many positive things you could have highlighted instead.

Plants that make gas guzzling vehicles closing and switching to make smaller more efficient vehicles and electric vehicles is good news. The free market is dictating the kind of vehicles the car manufactures should be making and that is good.

There was no way adjustments would ever have been made in the energy market place until prices forced them to be made. So in some ways these high gas prices now will be a blessing for our grandchildren in the way of the market coming up with new energy alternatives. Now if the Government would just keep its nose out of things and let the market flush away all these Hummers and give us some electric cars and alternatives we will be the better off in the long run.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Plants that make gas guzzling vehicles closing and switching to make smaller more efficient vehicles and electric vehicles is good news. The free market is dictating the kind of vehicles the car manufactures should be making and that is good.

Well its apparent you've never been involved with farming or ranching :wink: How many 20 or 24 foot stock trailers you seen pulled by a little electric car... :???:


You don't seem to understand- that every downturn action creates an even greater reaction in the continuing domino effect of this economy catastrophy...

What effect will this have on cattlemen that need heavy duty pickups/trucks for work :???: Will this create less competition :???: Will this negatively effect their prices :???:

Ford already announced it was cutting producing large pickups-- now GM- does that leave only Dodge without any competition to make work trucks.... :???: Or will GM and Ford still make some :???:

Either way its one more domino falling in GW's economic world :(
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Plants that make gas guzzling vehicles closing and switching to make smaller more efficient vehicles and electric vehicles is good news. The free market is dictating the kind of vehicles the car manufactures should be making and that is good.

Well its apparent you've never been involved with farming or ranching :wink: How many 20 or 24 foot stock trailers you seen pulled by a little electric car... :???:


You don't seem to understand- that every downturn action creates an even greater reaction in the continuing domino effect of this economy catastrophy...

What effect will this have on cattlemen that need heavy duty pickups/trucks for work :???: Will this create less competition :???: Will this negatively effect their prices :???:

Ford already announced it was cutting producing large pickups-- now GM- does that leave only Dodge without any competition to make work trucks.... :???: Or will GM and Ford still make some :???:

Either way its one more domino falling in GW's economic world :(

You talk all the time about our Granchildren having to pay for our spending. Well here is a chance for us to pay now so our grandchildren do not have to.

Sure Farmers and Ranchers are hit bu the high gas prices, but that is largely due to everyone and their brother driving big trucks and SUV's. I know many Ranchers and Farmers that do pull trailers and have to own large trucks to do that. But many own smaller cars that they drive when they do not have to, I know one that has five large trucks but when he drives to town to have coffee in morning he drives his wife's Chevy Malibu that gets 30+

In the end the Farmer and Truck drivers etc... will benefit by getting all the Preppies and soccer moms back to driving reasonable mpg vehicles. And if 90% of the worlds population could easily drive Electric vehicles what do you think would happen to gas prices for that Rancher and Farmer if they did so? Gas prices would drop drastically! And the oil industry would take the hit not the consumer.

So quit being a hypocrite!!!!!! You talk about not wanting your grandchildren to pay for our spending, then take one for the team and endure some high gas prices so the market will adjust and come up with some alternative energy sources for your grandchildren. Quit being a typical Liberal that wants his cake and eat it to, and the Government to buy and prepare that cake for him! Free Market can only work when things reach a point that demands it to change. So endure for your Grandchildren's sake and quit being such a cry baby!
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Well its apparent you've never been involved with farming or ranching :wink: How many 20 or 24 foot stock trailers you seen pulled by a little electric car... :???:

I have a F250 with a V10 hooked up to a 20 ft stock trailer right now, but guess what I am going to drive to town in a few minutes to take my kids to Pizza Hut?.........not that F250 for sure. I am going to drive a Toyota Avalon that gets 3 times the gas mileage.

Just because ranchers need Trucks to pull trailers does not mean they can not conserve other times. I know very few Ranchers that pull a stock trailer daily. Many have work trucks and then drive 1/2 ton for every day driving.

The key to electric cars is that if my Grandma that drives 10 miles a day, and my sister that drives 50 miles a day, and my mom that also drives 50 miles a day buy electric cars in future, then that Rancher will benefit with cheaper gas prices in future.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
aplusmnt said:
Oldtimer said:
Plants that make gas guzzling vehicles closing and switching to make smaller more efficient vehicles and electric vehicles is good news. The free market is dictating the kind of vehicles the car manufactures should be making and that is good.

Well its apparent you've never been involved with farming or ranching :wink: How many 20 or 24 foot stock trailers you seen pulled by a little electric car... :???:


You don't seem to understand- that every downturn action creates an even greater reaction in the continuing domino effect of this economy catastrophy...

What effect will this have on cattlemen that need heavy duty pickups/trucks for work :???: Will this create less competition :???: Will this negatively effect their prices :???:

Ford already announced it was cutting producing large pickups-- now GM- does that leave only Dodge without any competition to make work trucks.... :???: Or will GM and Ford still make some :???:

Either way its one more domino falling in GW's economic world :(

You talk all the time about our Granchildren having to pay for our spending. Well here is a chance for us to pay now so our grandchildren do not have to.

Sure Farmers and Ranchers are hit bu the high gas prices, but that is largely due to everyone and their brother driving big trucks and SUV's. I know many Ranchers and Farmers that do pull trailers and have to own large trucks to do that. But many own smaller cars that they drive when they do not have to, I know one that has five large trucks but when he drives to town to have coffee in morning he drives his wife's Chevy Malibu that gets 30+

In the end the Farmer and Truck drivers etc... will benefit by getting all the Preppies and soccer moms back to driving reasonable mpg vehicles. And if 90% of the worlds population could easily drive Electric vehicles what do you think would happen to gas prices for that Rancher and Farmer if they did so? Gas prices would drop drastically! And the oil industry would take the hit not the consumer.

So quit being a hypocrite!!!!!! You talk about not wanting your grandchildren to pay for our spending, then take one for the team and endure some high gas prices so the market will adjust and come up with some alternative energy sources for your grandchildren. Quit being a typical Liberal that wants his cake and eat it to, and the Government to buy and prepare that cake for him! Free Market can only work when things reach a point that demands it to change. So endure for your Grandchildren's sake and quit being such a cry baby!

Sorry if I don't trust your Repubenomics there A+-- because I heard all that free market bull for the past 15 years- and watched the local economy go in the pot, too.....
Free markets don't exist.......

These closings and announcements of layoffs will really be a big campaign, ride on Bush's shirtails, issue McCain can use to sell their McSame big spender Republican economics won't it A+ :???: :roll: :wink: :lol:


GW's freemarket kissing partners say it isn't supply....Its Bush's economy.....


OPEC: Weak Dollar, Not Supply, Drives Oil Sunday, June 1, 2008 7:00 AM


ALGIERS, Algeria -- The weak U.S. dollar, speculation and the subprime crisis are the causes for the spiraling price of oil, OPEC's current president said Saturday.


Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters the cartel will make no new decision on production levels until its Sept. 9 meeting in Vienna.


He notes that OPEC controls only 40 percent of world oil production, and says the high prices do not reflect market conditions but rather other factors linked to the weakening dollar, market speculation and the U.S. subprime mortgage market turmoil.

Oil prices recently reached $135 a barrel before falling to less than $130 Friday.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
A+- this explains the domino effect :
Those kinds of numbers can end up hurting the economy, as people have less discretionary income left over to spend in restaurants, stores and elsewhere. The high price of oil is one reason why Maine retail sales fell 5 percent in March from a year earlier, said Catherine Reilly, the state's economist.

And GW's budgets have yearly cut the amounts of heating aid to the elderly and the poor- even tho there wasn't enough to go around in the first place......


Heating Oil Sticker Shock to Hit New England

Sunday, June 1, 2008 2:30 PM


PORTLAND, Maine -- While people in most of the country may be worried about their summer air conditioning bills, many residents in the Northeast are way beyond that: They're already thinking ahead to next winter's heating bills.

And what those who heat their houses with oil are seeing is giving them sticker shock.


Retail heating oil prices have risen to more than $4.50 a gallon, nearly double what they were last year at this time. Some oil dealers have delayed rolling out their payment plans for next winter as the world oil markets continue their wild ride.


Consumers _ already on edge with rising gasoline and food prices _ will probably be outraged when they calculate their oil bills for next winter, said Jamie Py, president of the Maine Oil Dealers Association.


"There'll be sticker shock," Py said. "Nobody knows what the price will do. It could go up or the bubble could burst and it could come crashing back down."


The angst over heating oil prices is particularly acute in New England, where a higher proportion of people use oil as their primary heating source than any other region, ranging from more than 75 percent in Maine to about 40 percent in Massachusetts. Of the 7.7 million U.S. households that heat with oil, nearly 70 percent reside in the Northeast, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.


William Foss, 61, of Portland, had his heating oil tank topped off Thursday with 115 gallons. At $4.52 a gallon, that ran him about $520 _ the most he's ever paid for heating oil. But he didn't want to wait until fall for fear it'll go even higher, to $5 or $6 a gallon.


"If prices still keep going up, they're going to find people frozen to death next winter because they won't have the money to buy oil," Foss said.


Residents who depend on heating oil have started considering their different payment options for this winter _ such as fixed-price, capped-price or prepayment plans.


Bangor-based Webber Energy Fuels, which operates across Maine and parts of New Hampshire, has been selling fixed-price programs at $4.70 to $4.80 a gallon for next winter, said President Mike Shea. Last year at this time, the price was $2.50 to $2.60.


In his 32 years in the business, Shea has seen commodity prices rise and fall.


"But it seems there's only one direction in this market _ up," Shea said.


Fewer customers are signing up for payment plans, he said. Less than 20 percent of his customer base has signed up for fixed-price plans, down from about half two years ago. Many aren't signing up because they are hoping that prices will drop and market prices will be lower next winter than the fixed prices are now.


In Vermont, many oil dealers have delayed setting up prepurchase contracts because of concerns that prices could plummet, leaving them with expensive inventory they would have to buy at the current high prices, said Matt Cota, executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association. But it's a gamble.


"We're talking about lots of money at stake," Cota said. "If Goldman Sachs is right and oil goes even higher, $4.75 is a bargain."


The residential price of heating oil rose 59 percent from the first quarter of 2007 to the same period this year, far outpacing the price of other heat sources, according to the Energy Information Administration. During the same time, natural gas and electricity prices both rose about 3 percent.


The government projected this month that heating oil prices will average $3.67 a gallon in 2008, up from $2.72 a gallon last year. Those forecasts are expected to be raised in June.


At today's prices, homeowners nationwide will be shelling out billions of dollars in cash for heating oil _ with nothing extra to show for it.


In Maine alone, if the more than 400,000 households that heat with oil pay an extra $1 per gallon for 1,000 gallons a year, which is about average, that adds up to an extra $400 million spent on heating oil.


Those kinds of numbers can end up hurting the economy, as people have less discretionary income left over to spend in restaurants, stores and elsewhere. The high price of oil is one reason why Maine retail sales fell 5 percent in March from a year earlier, said Catherine Reilly, the state's economist.


While people can't control the price of oil, they can try to cut their consumption. Judy Dorsey of Gardiner halved her oil use last year by making improvements to her home, which was built in 1850.


After an energy audit of her house, she used a low-interest loan from the Maine State Housing Authority to have her walls and attic insulated, new windows installed, and cracks and holes filled in her foundation, attic and heat ducts.


She used 350 gallons of heating oil last year, compared with 750 gallons two years ago, saving her hundreds of dollars. She'll save even more this year.


"I picked the right year to do it," Dorsey said.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
aplusmnt said:
Oldtimer said:
Plants that make gas guzzling vehicles closing and switching to make smaller more efficient vehicles and electric vehicles is good news. The free market is dictating the kind of vehicles the car manufactures should be making and that is good.

Well its apparent you've never been involved with farming or ranching :wink: How many 20 or 24 foot stock trailers you seen pulled by a little electric car... :???:


You don't seem to understand- that every downturn action creates an even greater reaction in the continuing domino effect of this economy catastrophy...

What effect will this have on cattlemen that need heavy duty pickups/trucks for work :???: Will this create less competition :???: Will this negatively effect their prices :???:

Ford already announced it was cutting producing large pickups-- now GM- does that leave only Dodge without any competition to make work trucks.... :???: Or will GM and Ford still make some :???:

Either way its one more domino falling in GW's economic world :(

You talk all the time about our Granchildren having to pay for our spending. Well here is a chance for us to pay now so our grandchildren do not have to.

Sure Farmers and Ranchers are hit bu the high gas prices, but that is largely due to everyone and their brother driving big trucks and SUV's. I know many Ranchers and Farmers that do pull trailers and have to own large trucks to do that. But many own smaller cars that they drive when they do not have to, I know one that has five large trucks but when he drives to town to have coffee in morning he drives his wife's Chevy Malibu that gets 30+ Why waste gas going to town for coffee? Is he so ' challenged" that he can't operate a Mr. Coffee @ home??

In the end the Farmer and Truck drivers etc... will benefit by getting all the Preppies and soccer moms back to driving reasonable mpg vehicles. And if 90% of the worlds population could easily drive Electric vehicles what do you think would happen to gas prices for that Rancher and Farmer if they did so? Gas prices would drop drastically! And the oil industry would take the hit not the consumer.

So quit being a hypocrite!!!!!! You talk about not wanting your grandchildren to pay for our spending, then take one for the team and endure some high gas prices so the market will adjust and come up with some alternative energy sources for your grandchildren. Quit being a typical Liberal that wants his cake and eat it to, and the Government to buy and prepare that cake for him! Free Market can only work when things reach a point that demands it to change. So endure for your Grandchildren's sake and quit being such a cry baby!


Why waste gas going to town for coffee? Is he so ' challenged" that he can't operate a Mr. Coffee @ home??




A Minus....you get a promotion from Exxon or something as you sure beat the drum for BIG OIL!
 

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