From $2.00 gas to $5.00 gas in 4 years

I just caught the tail-end of the news this morning, but did I hear correctly when they said oil is now selling at $130 a barrel?

Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, et al, are predicting $150 in the 2nd half.

Seems to me, something's going to have to give...

All the Hummer & Escalade drivers?

Ha!
No, on a serious note, as the U.S. consumer takes it in the shorts (and not too far behind, Europe as well), where do the Chinese send their exports to?
Call me crazy, but I wonder if there are similarities here to 1997 and the Asian currency crisis...not the same cause, since China's currency reserves are huge this time, but look what happened to the price of oil amid the economic slowdown in the region at the time.

I just find it difficult to imagine the strains on many countries' economies continuing/worsening without something going *pop*.

Hi,

Fresh off the press: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080521/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices;_ylt=As.Ct.g03yc.HXExA9hu7xhv24cA

In Sweden we will always be on this top list of tax on fuel, diesel is today $ 9.63 and gas a little less. Boat taps a lot more...

Another jump this morning of about $0.14 per liter. We're up to $1.439/L (US$5.49/gal) for regular 87 octane, and as high as $1.599/L (US$6.10/gal) for diesel.

They announced this morning that London hit $9.00 gal. They also announced that truckers pulled a slowdown like what happened in New Jersey. Like to see more of that.
Since the oil companies want all of our money, let's give it to them. Buy nothing that is not absolutely necessary. No cars, boats, vacations, clothes, treats. If commerce comes to a halt the oil companies will have to answer to the rest of the ecconomic community. In the mean time save your money for next winter's heating oil. Let Macys, Harrods, GM, Honda, Disney, Time Warner, etc have a talk with Mobile, Shell, Exxon and BP.
And let's see more trucks puling off the road. Why should they deliver goods when they can't make money except for the oil companies.

I'd like a show of hands indicating that boats are 'not necessary'.

Boating isn't a matter of life or death...it's much more important than that.

recent local marina prices (about 30 miles inland from New York Harbor):
Fuel Prices on 05/24/2008
Diesel $4.999 Gal.
89 Octane Gasoline $4.479 Gal.

Hi,

Anyone who participates here and thinks or says Boats are not important should find another to place to post.

Fuel prices dropped 5 cents/gallon here today. I'm pulling the trigger and taking on 10,000 gallons at $4.22

Let's throttle back a little here. NYCapt didn't mean any harm. Rather, his post is a good idea. We're being held over a barrel by big oil. The best way to express our discontent to the powers-that-be... is to hit 'em where it counts.

The economy is vulnerable. As an example, look at the economic slow-down immediately following 911, when people were frozen with fear and stopped buying goods. If we all band together, an embargo of sorts, we could bring about change.

Nobody wants to stop buying the items we desire, but if we postpone purchases, collectively, it could have a resounding effect. The internet, specifically forums, could be the vehicle to start a movement like this.

Just some thoughts...

I don't think the original poster said boats are unimportant any more than he said clothes are unimportant.

However, he makes a good point - buying things just because they're there for purchase is not intelligent long-term planning. Maintaining a high level of consumerism encourages "more of the same" from the companies that benefit most (and often unintentionally) from said consumerism.

If we "buy nothing that is not absolutely necessary... no cars, boats, vacations, clothes, treats" that doesn't mean those things are unimportant. It just means we should be buying only the things we need. If we have 30 pairs of Italian shoes in pristine condition, do we need 31? If we have 5 cars in the collection, do we need 6? If we have last year's BMW, do we need this year's to replace it? If we have 50' of boat, do we need the new 52' just because it's new? Can we go boating more locally, or can our vacations be taken nearby (for example, instead of flying to New Zealand this year, go check out the Maine coast).

The oil companies don't care as long as we keep buying things. We might not drive as many miles, but goods are still being delivered, plastics are still being produced, oil is still being consumed. When we slow down our consumption of goods, every industry feels the pinch, and it becomes much easier to hold the oil behemoths responsible when all eyes are upon them.

My apologies to NYCAP123, Carl, and to any others on this Forum if my comments were in any way inflammatory. In particular, I stand with Seafarer's comment above and his sensibility.

I currently own a very serviceable automobile but lust after something much sexier and will not be denied.....I suspect that there are yacht owners--in much more rarified air than I breathe--who are thinking, "Dammit, I worked hard to lust after XXXXYacht and I will not be denied." Kudos to them.

So, send a 'message' to the Evil Ones (full disclosure: I own some XOM) and (possibly) tilt at the windmills or.... "Full speed ahead and da*n the torpedoes." Buy that yacht.

The markets ALWAYS bear the truth, and the truth that I see from the burgeoning build list of especially large vessels on order would indicate that our best intentions here do not matter a whit, IMHO.

First, As to whether I consider yachts important They are where I've earned my living for the past 20 years and they've been my passion for 50. Boats not being bought affects my wallet, but sometimes we should sacrifice even if just a little.
I am my brother's keeper may be too quaint for some so let's look it another way. The guy who mows your lawn and serves your food or cleans your boat may be raising his children in a shack in the woods made of shipping crates or sleeping in a 3 bedroom house with 30 others. (That's not an exageration). These are the people you trust around you home, family and trinkets. Do you really want them to be desperate? These are the people who can only afford an old gas guzzler, and when they can't even run that.....

Not much will change as long as we live in a Free Market Economy or we Nationalise the Industry like some 3rd World (OPEC) producers where a gallon is less than $2.

I looked at downsizing to a Volvo C-30 T5 or a Mini Cooper S last Month, but after doing some quick math and realising that if we didn’t go out for those $200 diners once a week, or cut back on the Friday afternoon Golf games and those huge Bar tabs on the 19th Hole…or ?.

Cant see much changing though, maybe we’re just catching up to Europe and the rest of the World.
Regardless it’s been a hell of a ride.

Not sure "it's been a hell of a ride" will cut it for the grandkids.
Maybe nationalizing is the answer when an industry turns on the citizens. I remember when the gougers hit Homestead after Andrew their wares were confiscated by the gov.