by the fans for the fans

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
RISING GAS PRICES FORCE CONSUMERS TO MAKE CHOICES

From NPR .

In some parts of the country, gasoline prices have hit $4 a gallon. The U.S. Energy Department estimates gas prices nationally will average $3.86 per gallon through the summer. That's a big increase — up nearly 40 percent compared with last year. So what does that mean for the economy?

Economists are trying to figure out how much rising gasoline prices will hurt consumer confidence and consumer spending.

The higher prices are not going unnoticed at Stan Hatoff's discount gas station in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

Pumps at a gas station in Laconia, N.H., show higher prices for fuel on Monday.

"It's not good for the people; this is very bad," customer Omery Velagoshti says while filling up his tank.

Velagoshti, who works delivering food for his son's family restaurant, says he has been making some changes in response to the rising gas prices.

"I go for shopping or just for coffee less than before," Velagoshti says. He wants to save money to make up for the extra money he's spending on gas.

At the next pump, Nancy Morales and her husband, Luis, are putting $50 in their old Jeep Cherokee. Their son is in the back seat.

"Every weekend is like, nope, money for gas not personal items," Nancy says.
The family runs a small house-cleaning business, and they've been cutting back a bit, too.

"We wanted to go to Bonkers [Funhouse Pizza] this weekend, and we have to [decide between] Bonkers and the price of gas," she says.

To save money, they decided not to eat at Bonkers, where their son likes to play video games.

Blowing a little less money on pizza and video games probably won't drag down the whole economy, but if hundreds of millions of people start cutting back in significant ways, that could add up to big problems.

When gas prices rise it like a tax it means there is less money for consumers to spend on other things. This article give a vivid example of what I'm talking about. If people are spending more on gas due to price spikes it will mean there is less for them to spend on things like anime. (already pricey to begin with.)

Rising gas prices also set off a cascading effect in the economy also. high gas prices forces upward pressure on the prices of goods and services since it cost more to transport a goods from point A to point B. In 2008 prices were above $4 USD for only a few months and went back down, however it appears that prices are going to above $4 USD and stay there for a long period.

What type of impact this will have on anime conventions are unknown.

Saturday, April 16, 2011
"OUT OF GAS" CALLS INCREASE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORINA
With gas prices now well over $4 USD in many places across Southern California a disturbing trend is reemerging .

For the first time since the record-setting gasoline- and diesel-price summer of 2008, there has been a double-digit increase in the number of Southern California motorists gambling -- and losing -- a bet that they will find a pump price they can live with before they run out of fuel. Experts say it's a common form of rolling the dice out of anger and frustration.

"When prices go up, people like to push it. If it is costing you $50 or $75 or $100 to fill up, that is real money they don't want to part with. They are hoping to find a bargain, and they push it further and further," said Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, a system of 185 websites where members post the highest and lowest prices they find.


AAA of Southern California says that an average of 15,600 of its members a month are having to make one of those mildly embarrassing "stranded, need gasoline" emergency calls in the 13 counties within the organization's jurisdiction. That's an increase of 12.9% over the first quarter of last year, and it represents the biggest jump since the California gas-price average hit the AAA all-time-high mark of $4.61 a gallon on June 19, 2008.

[snip]

The current state average is $4.191 for a gallon of regular gasoline, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, which is compiled by the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's up from $4.125 a gallon a week ago and just $3.112 a gallon at this time last year. Among states, only Hawaii, with an average of $4.464 a gallon, has more expensive gasoline than California.

If filling your car (even a hybrid one) is costing you $50 or $75 or $100 to fill up, that is real money you don't want to part with. Most anime fans often drive great distances to get to conventions they want to go to. If those fans that drive are getting hit with these prices to fill up thier cars now try to imagine what it will be like when were in the "summer convention season". A season that happens to align with the summer driving season when prices peak.

Already we have 4 states, some who are home to the larger amine conventions, with gas prices above $4 USD . If you do not think this has an effect please note how non-anime fans are reacting.

AAA of Southern California says that an average of 15,600 of its members a month are having to make one of those mildly embarrassing "stranded, need gasoline" emergency calls in the 13 counties within the organization's jurisdiction. That's an increase of 12.9% over the first quarter of last year, and it represents the biggest jump since the California gas-price average hit the AAA all-time-high mark of $4.61 a gallon on June 19, 2008.

A 13% increase and gas prices are still rising with no end in sight. It will be interesting to see how this affects the conventions.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
$6 USD PER GALLON GAS BY SUMMER?

This comes from CNBC .

A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.

With the greenback coming under increased pressure from Federal Reserve policies and investor appetite for more risk, there seems little direction but up for commodity prices, in particular energy and metals.

Weakness in the US currency feeds upward pressure on commodities, which are priced in dollars and thus come at a discount on the foreign markets.
One result has been a surge higher in gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon before the summer driving season even starts, a trend that economists say will be aggravated as demand increases and the summer storm season threatens to disrupt oil supplies.

"All we have to have is a couple badly placed hurricanes which could constrain some of the refinery output capacity in some key locations," says Richard Hastings, strategist at Global Hunter Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "If you get weakness in the dollar concurrent with the strong driving season concurrent with the impact of one or two hurricanes in the wrong place, prices could go up in a quasi-exponential manner."

[snip]

Hastings sees gasoline having "no problem" getting to $6.50 a gallon over the summer after increased demand and storm disruptions come into play.

The overwhelming majority of anime fans drive to their local conventions. Many of them often drive long distances (over 2 hours) to get to the conventions. With gas now hitting $4 USD per gallon in most parts of the country well before the summer driving season and could easily hit $5 USD per gallon before summers over could really make the summer convention season interesting.

High gas prices act as a tax if people are going to have to spend $70-80 USD to fill up a compact car gas tank its less money they have to spend on cons and anime products.

Thursday, April 21, 2011
GAS PRICES KILLING SPRING BREAK
Over the past few weeks I've been talking about how rising gas prices would affect peoples behavior. I mentioned that if people are paying $70-100 USD to fill up their cars something got to give.

Something is now giving .

With gas prices above $4 in some states, Americans are canceling spring break plans and rethinking summer vacation, and some tourist destinations are offering gas vouchers of as much as $50 to talk people out of giving up and staying home.


At Mount Rushmore, only about 37,000 people decided in March that seeing the four granite-etched presidential sculptures was worth the trip, down from about 43,000 a year before.

At the Grand Canyon, a marketing executive for one company that offers sweeping helicopter vistas says 10 percent fewer people than last year are driving up and booking tours. The company is counting on international tourists to make up the rest.


And along the Rhode Island coast, where 800,000 people a year show up to gawk at the opulence of Gilded Age mansions, it's even worse - business is off 30 percent just since the beginning of March.

Memorial Day is still five weeks away, and summer doesn't officially start for two months. This year, anxiety over high gas prices - and whether the family vacation will bust the family budget - has come early.

"I can't go anywhere because I can't afford it," said Greg Sensing, who works in admissions for the University of Maryland. "It's kind of nice to take a road trip, to get in the car, you see the country, and now why bother doing it?"

Anime conventions cant offer gas vouchers and the rely on people driving into thier show.We have major attractions down 10% in attendance what will happen to the larger anime conventions this summer?