#2 Article (people's reaction)

 

 

 

 

 

"Readers Respond: How Do High Gasoline Prices Affect You, and What Should Be Done About Them?" About.com US Economy. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.

Back in 2008 crude was $140 and oil to normal people was around $3 . Now crude is $91 and oil prices to us is $4.15 . Person who write the articles doesn't have the data before posting it . GAS prices shouldn't fluctuate my 2 cents and shouldn't be in stock market for big folks to manipulate .. Government needs to intervene these commodities to control effect on general class people .

—Guest Nickname

Dave

high gas prices is legalized stealing fueled by greed nothing more nothing less

—Guest Dave

this is stupid

This is stupid and the wonderful government should regulate the oil/gas prices. Hey stupid business people you know if you lowered gas prices to a more affordable price the amount made on gas would be more the economy would be better cause the American citizens can afford to get the gas to go places and afford to actually go out and do things instead of staying home all spring and summer and other times of the year. Don't ya'll think that would be an easier way to gain money to buy the oil and other things as well as possibly bring the value of the dollar back up. I get supply and demand but I mean come on think a minute. Let me give you rich bastards my income from my husband and myself and try to do yalls everyday thing. Let me tell ya it wouldn't happen. All you rich folk forget that the poor and middle class people are in more population than the darn rich and should be thought of before anyone else. Its all a snowball effect if gas was made cheaper than what it is now.

—Guest jennidlett

gas going up

well gas going up is causing a lot of people because that affects on the middle class. and people are going to stop using cars because of the gas going up

—Guest bumblebee(:

oil

delay your tax payment to the gov't form 1040x till they figure out how to stop the greed and outrageous profits to these thieves. Pass 1 piece of legislation that does meaningful cost relief for the working middle class

—Guest David

politicians & government

Instead of remodeling in medical benefits ,trying to control other countries and do away with our constitution, why doesn't Obama and Congress do something that will help the economy ,lower gas prices, open our offshore oil deposits for the US, help small businesses, bring most of our military home and argument border defense . The American people deserve something better from our PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS.

—Guest Sailray

oil increases

Natural gas, keystone pipe line, simple. Obama was going to take care of the speculators last time, bull as usual

—Guest bob

The Stage

Did you know the oil industry closed 26 refineries back in 1999-2001 on the West coast alone. Choke the supply of the product to market, create a man made shortage, raise the price. We as Americans to have term LIMITS on our representative now. Raise the tariff on all exporting petroleum products now!

—Guest Terry Steward

speculation

The fact that oil is traded about 27 times before it ever gets to market is the main reason for the price of fuel today.

—Guest Terry Steward

 

sick and fed up

gas companies are making record profits at everyone's expense corp. greed
—Guest sick of the bullshit

Really!!!

Do you really believe what you write. Crude oil prices mid 2008 were touching 150 a barrel and gas was 2.75 a gallon now west Texas crude is less than 94 dollars a barrel and gas is 3.80 plus the highest ever.

—enickelman

Cant afford this

If the price continues to rise and the pay for me remains the same, I will not be able to get to work and buy food or pay my house payment, and forget doctor bills. As far as the Government is concerned HA!!!

—Guest Wallace

To Much

With all the hype about the oil and gas finds and the amounts of oil and gas being produced here in our own country. Why would you expect me to go along with this Hogg wash. We are told by the US Government that we are on the verge of being energy independent and that the flow of oil and gas here has more than doubled. If we can get it out of the ground, why cant we refine it and lower the prices at the pump?

—Guest Wallace

Effects everyone who live on budget

Middle Americans have been suffering the last 3 yrs., the gas prices going up, blows on their monthly budget, other bills suffer because of gas, and if one has to drive a lot, then they are in a pickle. Gas going up puts more stress on middle America!!! And we are the ones who are working our asses off, working 2 or 3 jobs! when is America going to help the middle class? 1 way is to keep gas prices reasonable!!!

—Guest DABM

Only one

The only people not taking a hit with the rest of the world in the financial downturn are those in the oil business. They find any excuse to raise prices while profits decrease for everyone else. They would take a hit with the rest if us, but greed is a powerful thing with the oil bozos. $400 million retirement package? Who needs That much money, especially at the age of 65?

—Guest Observer

#1 Article (2012) Annoations

Sommer, Jeff. "STRATEGIES; Numbers That Sway Markets and Voters." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Mar. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.

SOMETIMES a number is just a number. But on Tuesday, when the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 13,000, it was treated as much more than that. Many news accounts and market commentaries portrayed that clean, round string of digits as a milestone that signified the stock market had come a long way since the darkest days of the financial crisis. Oil and gas prices have also been rising, and are beginning to attract considerable attention, too. How high and how quickly those numbers climb — and whether they leap above $5 a gallon and morph into a painful symbol of inflation — could have an enormous impact on the financial markets, the economy and the presidential election. “People may not remember too many numbers about the economy, but there are certain signposts they do pay attention to,” said Ethan Harris, chief North American economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “As a shorthand way to assess how the economy’s doing, everybody notices the price of gas. It can have a big symbolic impact, and in a presidential election year, when the price is rising, that can create a big headwind.”  On Friday, gas prices averaged $3.74 a gallon nationwide, their highest levels in the winter months but well below the nominal record of $4.11 a gallon in July 2008. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $4.27 today. In California, the average price on Friday was already $4.34.  Largely because of tensions in Iran and other countries in the region, oil prices rose more than 22 percent in the six months through Thursday, according to John LaForge, commodity strategist at Ned Davis Research. While those numbers may be disquieting, they haven’t had much of an effect on either the stock market or consumer sentiment, said Ed Yardeni, an independent economist who has analyzed the price surge. Partly because energy companies including Exxon and Chevron account for 12.3 percent of the market capitalization of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, rising oil prices “may actually be good for the stock market, up to a point,” he said. Since the second half of 2008, Mr. Yardeni says, there has been a strong positive correlation between energy prices and the stock market. If prices continue to rise, though, that benign influence is unlikely to last, he says. “At some point, you’ll have a negative feedback loop. High energy prices will correct themselves, and if they go high enough, the negative effects will spill over to stocks and the economy.”  Ned Davis Research has found that when oil prices climb by more than 33 percent in a six-month period, stock market performance then tends to weaken, Mr. LaForge said. Prices may not be a big problem right now, he said, but that could change quickly. How high will those prices go?  Presumably, futures prices already reflect the collective intelligence of the financial markets, said Richard B. Hoey, chief economist of BNY Mellon. “Those prices already factor in the risks of a possible war with Iran or an incident in the Strait of Hormuz that disrupts oil shipping,” he said.       

He added that he expects that the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program will be resolved peacefully — and believes that, at the moment, the markets think likewise.  Mr. Hoey said that oil prices might spike further, but that they were likely to come down without much lasting harm. “Of course, you never know,” he added. In the past, the domestic effects of rising gasoline prices have sometimes included a decline in auto sales. So far, though, the most recent energy price surge hasn’t had that effect. To the contrary, auto sales rose sharply in February, carmakers and analysts said last week, with the seasonally adjusted selling rate for new vehicles climbing to about 15.1 million, the highest level since February 2008.   Rising energy prices tend to have a lagging economic impact, said James D. Hamilton, professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego. Unless income also rises — which isn’t happening for many people now — higher fuel costs will eventually displace other expenditures. And at a certain point, he said, there will be additional “nonlinear” effects if prices keep rising.  It’s as though people finally sit up and really notice the price increase, and their behavior changes. “There’s no single magic moment when it happens,” he said. But the data indicates that this effect tends to kick in when the highest price level of the preceding three years is surpassed, he said.  We’re not at those levels, but we could easily get there. For regular gasoline in the United States, that average price point would be $4.11 a gallon in nominal terms, and $4.27, accounting for inflation. For oil prices, it would be $145.29 a barrel for benchmark American crude, or $150.87, when inflation is factored in. Ugly-looking prices at the pump are never a good omen for incumbent politicians. Since 1976, they have generally been inversely correlated with presidential approval ratings, Ned Davis Research has found. In other words, the more expensive gasoline is, the less popular the president tends to be.  The financial reason for this is obvious: with the possible exception of energy investors, few people enjoy paying more to drive. And because fuel costs affect many other items, including food, rising gasoline prices are often associated with an increase in the cost of living.  ON the other hand, the behavioral changes cited by Professor Hamilton include measures to reduce energy expenditures throughout the economy. Thanks in part to the long-term impact of rising prices, the nation has become far more energy-efficient in recent decades, so high fuel prices today shouldn’t hurt as much as they once did.  Figures provided by Ned Davis Research show that in December 1981, for example, energy expenditures accounted for 7.81 percent of disposable income in the United States, compared with only 5.5 percent in December 2011. Inflation-adjusted prices of gasoline were approximately the same in both periods, about $3.30 a gallon.       

Higher fuel efficiency may account for the relatively strong level of recent auto sales, despite higher energy prices. Consumers have been buying smaller and less gas-thirsty vehicles, auto industry executives say. What’s more, inflation in the United States is quite low at the moment — largely because of the weak economy. Yet the apparent relationship between rising gas prices and falling presidential approval ratings appears to be as strong as ever, Mr. LaForge said. “President Obama will need to be paying close attention to gasoline prices, even if they don’t have the impact they once did,” he said.       

gas prices video

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2078642258001/gas-price-predictions-for-2013/

How the gas may start rising again.

Is gas prices rising positive or negative?

Over the years gas prices go up and down. In the year 2008 it went to an all time high. Now the year 2013 the gas prices are rising again, and many people can't cut down on driving for work, children, etc,. People need to know why the gas prices are going up and also where the money will be going to.