Need some help from the financial/market gurus....

[blueranger]

Which for me would basically be anyone who learned to save their allowance and understands the concept of compounding interest. A while back there was a very coherent and easy to understand (for the financially illiterate such as myself) that explained oil prices and their relation to the purchase price of futures, and the operating profit margin of the oil companies; among various other factors.

Can someone put this in a nutshell or find the dang thread? I'm getting spammed to death by my own family with various conspiracy theories of why gas prices are so high. Now it's a plot by the Weights and Measures division of state Commerece departments. I just want to respond with a rational reason why this is not a deliberate attempt to deceive us innocents at the pump with rigged pumps.

A conspiracy of greed, yes. A conspiracy by the gas pump manufacturers, I don't think so.

On a seperate but personally interesting note, driving back yesterday from a job site with a co-worker we discussed what would happen when gas hits $5 a gallon. We will no longer be able to afford to drive to work; and with kids and other commitments being on public transportation from 5am until 8 pm with multiple transfers every day isn't really an option. Going to get interesting right about then...

Thanks to anyone willing to give a quick explanation of economics (if there is such a thing) and gas prices.

Mike