FWIW, I think they would argue, perhaps legitimately, that they take a loss
when prices suddenly drop, forcing them to sell their inventory for less
than they paid for it initially.  It's one of the perils of my business.

John Lee


At 09:36 AM 8/31/05 -0400, Senn, Bruce wrote:
>It's always been interesting to me that retail prices ratchet up so
>quickly in response to news of disruption in the supply chain.  The
>price of lettuce goes up the day after news of a freeze in California,
>but certainly the cost of lettuce on the shelf did not increase.  It
>happens with coffee, too.
>
>My theory has been that retailers make additional profits ahead of
>actual cost increases.
>
>FWIW.
>
>Bruce.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----
>   Bruce J. Senn                 Phone:  (518) 388-6664
>   Senior System Manager FAX:    (518) 388-6458
>   Union College                 E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
>   Schenectady, NY 12308 WWW:  http://www1.union.edu/~sennb
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of Shahan, Ray
>Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:09 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: OT: The big oil companies - shame on you!
>
>Forgive then OT post, but....
>
>Gas went up .22 cents a gallon yesterday (it's now 2.89 here in
>Appleton, WI), and I can't help but wonder - are there any decent people
>left at the oil companies?  I mean, Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart and a
>host of other companies at least make an effort to help in times of
>crisis, but the oil companies, who've been financially raping us while
>recording record profits, couldn't belly up to the table and offer to
>hold wholesale prices for at least a week or two to help stabilize
>things after Katrina?
>
>I'd love to just sit with the CEO's of the monster oil companies in a
>public forum, and ask them - 'Have you no shame?'.
>
>
>
>
>Ray Shahan
>Life is not a journey to the grave with the
>intention of arriving safely in a pretty and
>well preserved body, but rather to skid in
>broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
>and loudly proclaiming:
>-- WOW!!! What a Ride
>
>* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
>* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
>
>* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
>* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *