I've seen the posted price change three times in one day at a particular local spot.
Dropped below three bucks for regular here the last couple of days, but only at Thornton's, not at the others. Gotta figure it's going to imitate a Yo-Yo for some while to come.
When prices get that chaotic, seeing them fall is NOISE, not a SIGNAL, best I can tell. They're guaranteed to go back up, any time you see them fall for even a day or two.
Makes me really glad I don't sell gasoline. One thing that gets on my nerves a little, is when folks complain that the retail price seems to jump in anticipation when wholesale prices haven't jumped up (yet). The clue here is the "yet".
Consider that if you make a nickel a gallon (not uncommon), and pay 1000 bucks to fill that big tank under the parking lot, you had better charge enough to pay for it. The next load may cost you 1200 bucks, not the 1000 you paid last time. If you charged your customers a total of 1100 for that last tanker-load, and pay 1200 to refill it, you lost 100 bucks on that load. Why? Because you didn't raise your retail resale price quickly enough. And that's the tricky part of selling gas at retail. You really want to collect enough from what you sell so you can buy another load. The more pumps you have out front, the faster you can go broke by not raising your retail price fast enough. This doesn't excuse "gougers" who double their price, but it's still a market. You can drive on past the gouger. So long as your tank's not empty yet. And THAT'S what the gouger is hoping for, plenty of folks with a fuel gauge on "E", with no choice, other than walking.
Sure, the petroleum business is full of crooks. From the towel-heads who own the wells, to the multinational trading companies who own the tankers, the refiners, wholesalers, and even politicians who steal elections with all that money.
The retail guy is at the end of the "whip". And of everybody in the chain, from the wellhead to your corner store, he's probably the most honest of the bunch.
73
P.S. I've been feeling an overwhelming temptation to hang a big, bright "Mission Accomplished" banner under every fuel-price sign I see that gets over three bucks. Hmmmm.