Is it the "price of gas, stupid"?

Nice $2 spike in crude just today.

 

Be bad for whom?

 

U.S. drivers are paying an average of $3.72 per gallon on Monday. That's the highest price ever on this date, according to auto club AAA...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-20-11-19-24

 

And one week from pspr's average price quote (thank you for filling in for me while I was away on travel), gas has spiked 8 cents to an average US unleaded price of $3.80.

This is up almost a full nickel from yesterday! Also up $.32 from this time last month. Crude (WTI) is hovering in the $96 area, trying to break the $100 area (which will happen with all certainty when Benny Bucks come a-flyin'). There was an attempted smack down in the price of crude last week when the Obama administration released "rumors" on the potential tapping in of the strategic reserve. This is, of course, hilarious, as it is not supply driving prices, but cheap money looking for a home.

States now over $4 a gallon:

CA, CT, IL, MI, OR, WA

Woohoo! Let's do it, baby. Push up that gas price! Not a single event or aspect of the economy will do more to create pissed off voters than this. Not one.

 

Here in Southern California the cheapest regular gas within ten miles of my house is $4.17 a gallon. The best price on premium gas is $4.34.

 

Wait until QE3! You'll be on the front lines of that price hike, my friend.

 

Up another 3 cents since yesterday, bringing the avg retail unleaded price to $3.83 - an 8 cent rise in two days. Holy moly.

Up 11 cents from one week ago.

 

Yep, it appears that it's the refinery shutdown that's doing this. EIA data yesterday was interesting in that regard and seems to suggest that it's all about the crack spread, rather than the price of crude.

 

Yep. But as I mention in the original post, I don't care. It'll fall on Obama at the end of the day, unless you think that - right after watching the latest Dancing With The Stars (is that even on anymore?) the local American population will then pull up their terminal to check the crack spread and come to the same determination.

Crude, however, is being driven mostly by QE hopes (with some Isaac in there as well).

 

I know you don't care about the reasons. I, on the other hand, don't care about the politics, so we're all one big happy family.