All Things Economic

Interestingly enough, this just popped up on my "Hey look at this" thingy:

"Homes sold below their list price at the peak of the housing season, Redfin reports, a development that could shift the real estate market to the buyer’s advantage.

That data point matters, housing experts say, because the market hits its annual peak in late spring and early summer. In the last few years, the average home sold at or above list price at that time of year. This year, it did not.

“It means that the housing market is starting to move to the buyer’s favor,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin."

msn.c om/en-us/money/realestate/homes-are-selling-below-list-price-that-s-bad-for-sellers-good-for-buyers/ar-BB1pFmR6rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=a988675ede6a463fc09279dd460b42b8&ei=9

Nobody can afford to go out to eat.

Nobody can afford a car.
Nobody can afford gas.
Nobody can afford to go to concerts…

etc, etc…

I guess that’s why all the restaurants are empty and there’s no traffic on the highways… </s>

Some people just can’t help speaking in absolutes.
The truth is that this economy has some serious problems, but economies always have serious problems.

This is the thing that bothers me. People's perceptions are discussed as factual even when it flies in the face of actual data or even casual observation.

"Nobody can buy houses anymore" seems to be at-odds with data and observations of new housing being built across the country.

"Nobody can afford to travel" seems to be at-odds with everyone traveling.

Etc.

More than 3 million travelers were screened at airports across the country Sunday, marking the highest number ever for one day, the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) announced.

TSA agents screened 3,013,413 people Sunday in a post-Fourth of July travel blitz, surpassing the all-time high on June 23, when about 2.99 million people were screened, the agency said Monday.

I guess a few (million) Americans scraped together enough spare change to travel after all.

~Scamp

boston celtics for sale 5.6 billion

____________________

That sounds like a discount price to me. Even the Golden State Warriors here is valued over $8 billion.

boston celtics for sale 5.6 billion

The National Football League is basically printing money at this point with all the revenue it brings in on a yearly basis, and the Detroit Lions and the rest of the teams in the league are benefitting big time.

According to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico, the NFL cut the Lions and the other 31 teams in the league a whopping $404 million check for the 2023 campaign, which comes from a revenue-sharing pot of $12.9 billion. That's an astounding $30 million more than each team made in 2022.

And it may even be higher than that, as teams reported four different totals with $402 million, $404 million, $418 million and $425 million. Sportico settled on the $404 million for their article, though. On top of the $404 million check, teams received an additional payout of $20 million, which comes from a general pool of ticket revenue generated by teams.

my exxon stock is up LOL

"Petroleum will continue to have great value as a raw material rather than a fuel."

Yep. Unlike its use as a fuel, there are no other alternatives as a raw material for many products that a lot of people use every day and don't realize they incorporate refined petroleum. There are multiple alternative energy/fuel sources.

I have seen at least one article about using sails in addition to diesel to propel a cargo ship. There is

Probably never become mainstream, but what's old becomes new again...

ht tps://newatlas.co m/environment/wings-cargo-ship-efficiency/

"At some point, probably in our kids lifetime, I would expect technology to negate the need for fossil fuels to a much large extent than they are needed now"

Probably. They will still have niche uses. I'm having a hard time seeing electric commercial air travel within a half century. Not sure about commercial shipping.

Petroleum will continue to have great value as a raw material rather than a fuel.

There is a gas station two blocks away that is affiliated with the grocery store across the street. It has the 10 cents a gallon per $100 spent at the grocery store. The Mrs. uses that once a month, and usually gets 30 or so cents off.

There is a gas station down the hill (about a mile away) that is consistently 30 cents below prevailing price if you pay cash. I go there. My car only takes about 11 gallons, so it is not a lot, but every little bit helps...

I was watching something on YouTube the other day that made no sense (big surprise, huh?). Anyway, they were talking about other countries where "electrification" as they called it was further along than the US. Electrification meaning they now have such a large suply of renewable power (solar/wind/etc) that it is producing a big glut of fuel (oil/gas).

I can see that, but the part that made no sense is how they were saying that this is going to drive the cost of oil/gas up. Generally if you have way more supply than demand, it drives the price down.

They were also saying it would drive up the cost of electricity, which also made little sense and they really didn't explain the mechanism that was going to drive the prices up.

At some point, probably in our kids lifetime, I would expect technology to negate the need for fossil fuels to a much large extent than they are needed now.

"Those frequent flyer cards for gas stations, at least around here, only give the discounted price for the first 20 gals."

Yeah, the pump shuts off and you restart again if you need more than 20 gallons with the $0.10 off card Holiday gave me. The grocery store chain discount ($0.10/gal for each $100 spent) is good for a one time 20 gallon purchase at Holiday- do not restart pump, do not get additional 20 gallons at $0.20 off.

Speedway that DB mentioned has some kind of regular customer discount card of a few cents per gallon. Speedway and Holiday are usually a bit higher than a couple of other stations near me UNLESS you have their discount cards, then their prices are closer but still a bit higher. Occasionally there is a rogue station among those chains that have better prices. I guess to compete with the other guys.

It's not usually worth driving around to try and save a dime per gallon, but I saved about $20 in gas last weekend by stopping at the right places along the way with the right discounts. Basically a burger and a beer including tip.

Those frequent flyer cards for gas stations, at least around here, only give the discounted price for the first 20 gals. If you put in 8 gals (minimum to be considered a fillup), you got a whopping $0.80 off at $0.10/gal and, at most, are only going to get $2 off of 20 gals. Better than not doing it, but not really worth going much out of the way for.

We'll get an additional $0.10/gal off after 50 gals. My wife's car has the bigger tank and is 18 gals. At $0.20/gal well get about $3.50 off if it's just about empty. Basically it's like a free gallon of gas best case.

When I agreed to let Irving deliver my home heating oil they gave me $0.25/gal off for 42 fillups at Irving gas stations, or 2 years (whichever came first) plus the regular $0.10/gal off. Irving stopped being competitive with their fuel oil though, so I was just giving them the gas savings back, and then some. Things add up a lot faster when you're getting 100-200 gals of product.

tv commentater said that gas in mass is cheaper now than a year ago

“In both cases, gas prices in The Villages was typically 10-15 cents higher than everyone else.

Move up to Paducah Kentucky, No matter what the price of gas is, when you go 4 miles across the river to Metropolis Illinois, the price is at least 20 cents higher, because of the difference in state gas taxes.”

Talk about moving the goalposts, your original comment was that gas prices are up $.40/gallon this year.

Please cite one single source that backs that up.

~Scamp

Returned yesterday from the cabin in northern MN- much farther from the densely populated metropolitan area of MN than the typical cabin country/lake place/getaway area. We saw a shit-ton of traffic and people in the typical get away area (half way to our place). License plates on cars and RVs from all around the country. The grocery stores, gas stations, liquor stores and most other places were packed. Looks to me like people are vacationing.

Gas was $3.20 at a gas station (Holiday) in the heart of lake cabin country this weekend. Using the $0.10 off per gallon card that chain gave out when I stopped at one of their stations earlier this year, we paid $3.10- not counting the 5% cash back at gas stations the CC I used- which is, what, another $0.15 off? Effectively $2.95/gal.

When the chain gave me the their $0.10 off card in June, (good till end of August)- they were selling gas for $2.99, That reduced the price to $2.89 AND I used our $0.20 (maybe $0.30) off to fill the truck from shopping at a local grocery store chain that was only good at that gas station chain. Drove up on $2.69/gal, filled the truck and several cans at $2.95 on the way home.

Yeah, I see gas cheaper than last year and a shit ton of people vacationing.

"So you are saying gas was $2.88 this time last year?

According to eia dot gov, a gallon of regular gas on July 1, 2024 was $3.479, down $0.048 from the same date last year.

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration"

You asked about my trip to Florida last year, not this time last year. Please quit moving the goal post, as it confuses people.

It depends on which trip to Florida. In February, I paid between $2.89 and $3.05, depending on where I filled up. On October, I paid between $3.05 and $3.29, depending on where I filled up. Prices vary quite a bit, depending on state gas taxes, and the amount of competition in the area. Sometimes they vary on a whim.

For instance, in October, the 7-Elevin at Hwy 27 and Griffin Ave in Leesburg was $3.05, while the Wawa 3 blocks away was $3.19.

In February, the Wawa about a mile further south on 27 was at $2.89, while just about everyone else was $2.95 and $2.99.

In both cases, gas prices in The Villages was typically 10-15 cents higher than everyone else.

Move up to Paducah Kentucky, No matter what the price of gas is, when you go 4 miles across the river to Metropolis Illinois, the price is at least 20 cents higher, because of the difference in state gas taxes.

For whatever reason, the Casey's in Hannibal Missouri is almost always 15 cents less than just about every other station along Highway 61.

As of this morning, Holiday and Speedway are at $3.44, so no, the gas prices aren't lower than my trips to Florida last year.

Data source: My receipts.

regular gas in seabrook nh this morning was 3.15 cash or credit 2.98 with irvingpay card

regular gas in seabrook nh this morning was 3.15 cash or credit 2.98 with irvingpay card

“$3.28 at Sam's”

So you are saying gas was $2.88 this time last year?

According to eia dot gov, a gallon of regular gas on July 1, 2024 was $3.479, down $0.048 from the same date last year.

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

~Scamp

$3.28 at Sam's, $3.39 at the other stations.

gas is 3.29 here in mass

"Which is much larger than the typical sampling used for political polling, which people love to believe as 100% fact, and report on regularly."

Not me in either case. If I ever cite a poll, which I can't remember doing here, but it's been a long 6 plus years, I'll talk about the methodology and I'll do so as a data point not as a fact.

tbr is right that most people don't understand polling but I'd go farther and say most people don't know how to analyze information.

TSA numbers and airline numbers are facts - x people traveled/x people booked flights - AAA is a projection and what you cited was a poll. The latter two aren't facts, just interesting data points. Which, if they conflict with actual facts, should probably be given the side eye rather than forwarded on.