Better Fill up today

[frawin]

The last thing we plan to give up is driving to Tyro to church.
Frank

[Wilma]

Johnson grass is a very good idea.  We could all grow it in our backyards at no expense.  Think I will stop spraying the spot I have and there might be a fortune across the alley from me.

[sixdogsmom]

Just think! No fertilizing or tilling; just the expense of bars across the doors and windows to keep it out of the house! LOL! I suspect the folks in the south think the same about kudzu also. However if things get really bad, they can eat their crop! 

[Rudy Taylor]

Speaking of gas ... has anybody seen Ta Ta recently?

I miss her.

[Wilma]

I miss her, too, Rudy, but I do see her for a short time each day when she brings my mail in.  Maybe she can spend more time with us over the weekend.

[Diane Amberg]

Rudy, she'll get ya for that!

[frawin]

Crude Oil Advances on Concern Long-Term Supply Won't Keep Pace

By Alexander Kwiatkowski and Christian Schmollinger

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose, headed for a third weekly gain, on concern supply won't be able to keep pace with accelerating demand from Asia.

The International Energy Agency said yesterday it may cut long-term supply forecasts as fields deplete faster than expected. Oil reached a record above $135 a barrel yesterday after banks raised price forecasts and then fell as traders sold to benefit from a 20 percent increase in prices since May 1.

``The market is getting more and more worried about the supply prospects in the long term,'' said Eliane Tanner, commodity analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Zurich. ``This is also driving up long-dated crude prices and is supportive for short-term prices.''

Crude oil for July delivery rose as much as $1.57, or 1.2 percent, to $132.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $132.08 a barrel at 10:41 a.m. in London.

Yesterday, oil fell $2.36, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $130.81 after reaching $135.09 a barrel, the highest since futures started trading in 1983. Prices are up 4.3 percent so far this week and 100 percent in the past year.

The biggest gains in prices were for futures for later delivery. The December 2016 contract has risen 7.9 percent this week.

The IEA forecasts that China's oil consumption will increase 4.7 percent in 2008. The country's imports, the highest after the U.S. and Japan, rose 15 percent in the first quarter and jumped 25 percent to a record in March of about 4.1 million barrels a day.

U.S. Stockpiles

U.S. crude oil stockpiles posted an unexpected decline of 5.3 million barrels in the week ended May 16, an Energy Department report showed. Gasoline supplies also fell at a time when they normally increase before the summer driving season in the Northern Hemisphere.

``The mood seems very positive, the market is taking some positive leaps from the tight report,'' said Mark Pervan, commodity strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne.

Oil's rally to a record above $135 a barrel came as traders bought crude to cover wrong-way bets that prices would decline. The number of outstanding futures contracts fell this week as prices rose, signs that traders were buying to exit so-called short positions that would profit if oil fell.

Brent crude oil for July settlement rose as much as $1.96, or 1.5 percent, to $132.47 a barrel, on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $132.18 a barrel at 10:42 a.m. local time. The contract touched a record $135.14 yesterday.

Brent Wins

Brent is trading above West Texas Intermediate for the second consecutive day, after a U.S. Energy Department report on May 21 showed stockpiles at the delivery point for the U.S. contract rose for the eighth week, cutting the premium at which New York oil typically trades over London.

Crude oil may rise next week as investors buy futures after banks raised price forecasts and U.S. stockpiles declined. This is the first time in 20 weeks that analysts forecast an increase in prices.

Fourteen of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 48 percent, said prices will rise through May 30. Twelve of the respondents, or 41 percent, said oil will fall and three forecast little change. Last week, 47 percent said futures would decline.

Societe Generale SA and Credit Suisse lifted their price forecasts on May 20 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its outlook to $141 a barrel for the second half of 2008 on May 16.

[pam]

I'm Baaackk, Have yall missed me? Puters been down, may go back down at any moment lol. Anyway, about the conservin. I think most people are doin whatever they can. We go to town once a week, just drive back and forth to the bosses house the rest of the week, but hell we were doin that before Had to laugh at a guy tellin me well you could walk to the post office and store and stuff and save that way, I said well the post office is ten miles away and town is either 15 or 23 dependin which way you go lol, if I start now I'll get there thursday:P Still think its the big oil usin us for all we are worth sorry Frank, if people bitch loud enough long enough they'll get their rigs in the arctic like they've been itchin to do for years. I have a truck for haulin hay, wood which we burn for heat, and whatever won't fit in the car. It only gets 12 mpg on a good day but it's necesary out here and I only use it when I have to, like Sallys its paid for so don't see me givin it up, it starts every time I need it lol. Got a pontiac for every day that gets probly 22 or 25, don't see any spendin on a different one there either, it's ours and it starts every mornin. Got a big garden, got two big horses we can hitch to a wagon or BBQ whichever we need most LOL, not really BBQ ( got cats for that:P) lmao plenty of places to hunt, so we'll get by just like most country people do. City people are gonna be the ones in the most trouble.

[Diane Amberg]

Does barbecued cat taste like chicken?  
   Our gas prices went up again across the holiday weekend, which is normal as people head for the beaches, but I betcha this time it it doesn't come down again on Wednesday as it usually would. Some stations are more than $4.00 now. I'm starting to look for change in the sofa cushions! I have young friends who jog 10 miles without breaking a sweat ( I hate them.) Maybe I'll get them to "run" some errands for me .   Am I correct that farm vehicles still are exempt from federal taxes? 
   "Real" city people don't own cars anyway, but Taxi  and car service fares are up and of course food prices are up too. If they can't catch a bus, they borrow a car, or a group will rent a car or bus for an outing.

[pam]

Yeah food and heat is what will cause the problems for city people. My truck isn't classified as a farm truck, just tag it regular. So no mine ain't exempt. Lol I don't know about the cat but guess that means it tastes like chicken by default lol