Hi All:

___Possibly mentioned in this thread a few pages back, gas may be closer to $2.00 - $2.50 per by Christmas then $4.00 or $5.00. Rita did some damage to at least 1 refinery yet prices are equal or below what they were pre-Katrina/pre-Rita. Oil is closer to $60 then $70 and I think you will see a little more ease. Longer term, this will not hold but I believe OPEC is beginning to worry that the US will begin to tap their oil shale reserves at these prices in the not-to-distant future. Once you start pushing $70.00 per BBl, there are alternatives that are far less expensive and far better for our environment … Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Coal to Gas are not three of the better for the environment I was speaking of but they are alternatives.

___In regards to SUV’s and Full size P/U trucks … At least someone is making a profit which does grease the skids of a whole bunch of US based employees. Is this wrong for the environment and our balance of trade? You bet it is but that will not matter because most shrug off the recent price spike as hurricane related (it was not just hurricane related by any extent) instead of something much bigger that they do not yet understand.

___I will probably place the MDX on the market or trade this winter when gasoline settles into a trough but I believe that trough will be somewhat temporary. At least I hope we see that trough this coming winter.

___The US car purchasing consumer endured $0.50 per and there was a cry for conservation. It endured $1.00 per and the same went out. Only when gasoline shortages actually came to pass, then you saw the sub-compacts purchased in droves. $2.00 in recent years hardly a blink. Now $3.00 per and there appears to be a small turn in automobile purchasing priorities. With that, I am still seeing speeds out on the highway pick right back up again It is going to take actual gasoline shortages, not just prices to really turn things around and god knows I know of nobody that wants to see that come again. What do you think a Sequoia, Excursion, Yukon XL, or H2 driver is going to do when there are 30 sub-compacts, compacts, mid-size, hybrid and diesel automobiles sitting in line for fuel and 1 of these big monsters pulls up into the same line? That individual will be lucky not to get shot!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net