todat $ 2.36

While driving in to work this morning I noticed the price at one of my usual stops, $2.55 !!! I'll be looking for a better deal on the way home tonight

Yikes -
19 cents in 8 days!

Gas Prices Hit $2.00

So Long SUVs? : Sure, a lot of Hollywood has joined the hybrid car trend… but most of middle America has been reluctant to give up their gas guzzling vehicles. SUVs/trucks have become a virtual staple of American life, and in the past, increases at the gas pump have not dulled their popularity.

Until now… The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Big 3 have begun ratcheting up incentive offerings on their largest and least fuel-efficient models. With the average price of gas projected to hit $2.03/gallon in June ($0.21 more than the government previously expected), consumers have begun backing away from their beloved SUVs and large-size trucks.

April auto sales reflect the lack of interest in big cars: SUV sales at Ford (F) and General Motors (GM) - the two largest sellers of SUVs in the US - both dropped, with sales of Ford Explorer and Expedition down 8% and 34%, respectively. Trucks and luxury cars also felt the pinch of a more price-conscious consumer - sales of Ford's new F150 rose just 2% (down substantially from earlier months) and General Motors's Hummer H2 experienced a sales decline.

In response to the drop-off in interest, General Motors has raised discounts on its largest SUVs twice this month - extending some cash rebate offers by $500 - and Ford has boosted incentives on its F-150 models. These moves aside, Detroit's promotions are already near 2001's record levels. Deutsche Securities estimates General Motors's incentives rose to $4,800 per vehicle in April from $4,100 in March, Ford's incentives increased to nearly $3,900 from $3,500, and Daimler Chrysler's (DCX) rose to $4,650 from $4,400.

Profitability stands to suffer as a result - particularly as North American trucks account for about 60% of the domestic automakers' global profits (according to the Center for Automotive Research). The segment has been one area the Big 3 has been able to stave off competition from foreign companies - although recent data indicate that that may no longer be true. In 2003, truck sales were up 14% for the Asian manufacturers and 38% for the Europeans, versus down at least 1% for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Briefing.com has had a negative view of the auto companies for some time now - owing to such reasons as rising pension/medical costs, shrinking US market share, a lack of pricing power, and a less favorable interest rate environment down the road. Slowing sales in one of their only strongholds - trucks and SUVs - only solidifies our view, and leads us to recommend investors look elsewhere for relative value plays.

When we were driving around LA, I was astounded at how many Hummers I saw!

$2,000,000,000,000 per quart. I can barely afford to fill up the 300 foot yacht. Let along my fleet of garbadge trucks (hey ya gotta live somewhere)

P5

Quote:

---

When we were driving around LA, I was astounded at how many Hummers I saw!

---

There's a joke in there somewhere, but I ain't touchin' it.

Jimmyv, I hear you,

$2.44 this morning for 91

For the car... $2.50 (91), for the plane... $3+.

This morning $1.90 for regular. up 0.10 in less than a week!! Where is this going to end??

It will not end. It is a commodity based on a resource. Long term trend will only be up. How many things reduce in price. Precious few. Movie tickets broke $10 in San Jose this week. Gas will eventually be $10 as gallon.

God, I hope not any time soon. I do a lot of driving for a living and $2 / gallon is enough for me at this point. I'm sure by the end of the summer it will be at least $2.50 though.

Has anyone else noticed how expensive some other items are getting, as a result of increased fuel costs?

Air travel

Milk and really all groceries

Booze

Everything is going up in price. It costs so much more just to get it to us. Something's gotta give soon. This is nutty.

What's up with using some of the Strategic Petro Reserve to defray a bit of the pinch? We haven't even hit the "high" travel season of summer yet.

BTW $2.47.9 this morning (down 2 cents from last week).

I understand that gas prices are getting high, but it's chicken little-ish for the media to pronounce the doom of the summer vacation. Even if you're paying $.50/gallon more on a 1,000 mile trip, you're paying an additional, what $25 for the whole trip? That's chicken feed compared to the total trip price.

Gotta love thispicture.

A couple of good articles relating to the real price of gasoline

Cato

Easterbrook

There you go again, ormbee. Trying to interject facts into an emotional argument.

When the media tells me to become hysterical over pricing, I will do as they say, and not listen to naysayers like you. Why should I listen to naysayers, when I can listen to the doom and gloom crowd?

Never pick an argument with someone who buys ink by the barrel.

Mike