Darn economy!

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

How many investigations have been launched by government into price fixing by the oil companies? None have ever been able to conclude there is price fixing or collusion.
If joe charges 78.9 and pete across the street is charging 79.9 obviously joe is going to get the business. Pete looks across the street at the sign sees 78.9 and realizes why his station is slow. Drops price to 78.9 business picks up. Pretty easy to match prices when they are displayed on the sign in numbers that are 18" tall.

Now lets all go make our tinfoil hats.

This in theory is how it should work but in BC is does not. I have lived in a few Canadian provinces and have seen firsthand what is outlined in the above post play out.

In NS or ON gas station Pete would undercut his competitor by $0.04 cents/litre in response gas station Joe slashes his price by $0.06 cents and you get a good old "Gas War". The radio stations jump on the bandwagon and everyone flocks to that neighborhood to fill up.

Not so in BC. EVERY gas station within it's particular tax zone(metro, rural) is within $0.01 cents of each other and they all change their price together at the same time. It stinks of price fixing but the government is unable or unwilling to catch them at it.

[trilinearmipmap]

The economy is in a bad way. IMO the blue collar people and the lower-level white collar workers are getting screwed. At the same time as they get laid off, their investment portfolio drops by 50% and the house they thought was worth half a million is dropping in value month by month.

I know a lot of friends/relatives who have been living beyond their means on credit, big mortgages, big credit card debt, and lots of fancy toys. If anything good comes out of this depression maybe people will learn to be more responsible with their saving and spending.

Anyway the stock market will turn around in 3 to 4 years, I wouldn't count on it happening anytime before that.

As far as the price of oil it is a delayed reaction. Big oil companies are slashing their capital expenditures. This will decrease the amount of oil produced a few years down the road. In a few years there will be an oil price spike due to lack of supply when the economy rebounds. In the near-term future there is still an excess of supply and as OPEC members can be trusted not to stick to their production quotas I see the oil price plunging further. There will be a time to buy oil stocks in a year or two, not just yet though.

[heyfredyourhat]

Well i know nothing about the oil side of life, but here in our little world the loggers are finding it very "tuff".

Our biggest sawmill is down for 6 weeks, and on top of that all the other mills in the area are going down one week per month (or more).

It doesnt effect me directly, but when you think of the trickle effect, i may have more time on my hands than i know what to do with. (I'm a bodyman, thanks ICBC for paying 99% of my salary!)

Also on on the lighter side of things, i would guesstimate that about 50% of this town is pulling ina gov't cheque (school, hospital, native bands a plenty, cops...) So that does help out.

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by heyfredyourhat

Well i know nothing about the oil side of life, but here in our little world the loggers are finding it very "tuff".

Our biggest sawmill is down for 6 weeks, and on top of that all the other mills in the area are going down one week per month (or more).

It doesnt effect me directly, but when you think of the trickle effect, i may have more time on my hands than i know what to do with. (I'm a bodyman, thanks ICBC for paying 99% of my salary!)

Also on on the lighter side of things, i would guesstimate that about 50% of this town is pulling ina gov't cheque (school, hospital, native bands a plenty, cops...) So that does help out.

Ya West Fraser is going to a 3 day work week in all their mills, and they are planning a shutdown in the near future here. It really sux fro people who like to spend $$$ like me LOL.