What To Make of Gasoline Prices in Early-2013?

By Tim on 02/06/2013 in Commodities

Along with the remarkable inflows into stock mutual funds, rising gasoline prices are one of the other big stories so far in 2013 and, based on the latest Energy Department data, pump prices are now at a record high for this time of the year as shown below, up 18 cents from last week to an average of $3.54 per gallon.

Rising prices for crude oil and refinery closures have been cited for the recent rise and based on this GasBuddy heat map, there’s a pretty big difference in what you’re paying for gas depending upon where you live. At the moment, they’re paying almost a dollar more per gallon in California than here in Montana.

As for stock mutual fund inflows, according to the latest data from ICI, January looks as though it will be the biggest monthly move into equities since before the 2008 financial crisis. Buy! Buy! Buy!

3 Responses to What To Make of Gasoline Prices in Early-2013?

  1. AD February 6, 2013 at 7:44 PM #

    It could be that the fiscal cliff deal and tax increase on +$400k wage earners may have created enough confidence for people to jump back into the market.

    I saw USA Today had a 25 January 2013 article about Main Street getting back into stocks.

    Many investors still are getting over the shock of the 2001 market crash (tech bubble bursting) followed by the housing crisis of 2008.

    Run a dollar-cost average scenario for February 1999 to February 2013 for Vanguard’s S&P 500 fund, and you will see the annual return on investment barely keeps up with government-reported inflation. Source: http://www.buyupside.com/calculators/dollarcostave.php

    Reply
  2. musickcd February 7, 2013 at 12:11 PM #

    Tim,

    Great graph showing the anual patterns and the general trend up. This is just one sign that quantitative easing is increasing inflation.

    Reply

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  1. Confidence Back at Five-Year High, But for How Long? | Iacono Research - February 7, 2013

    [...] gasoline prices (up 18 cents last week to a record high for this time of the year as detailed here yesterday) could begin to take a toll and this Gallup survey showing job creation at an 11-month [...]

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