Premium gasoline

[Psi5]

gas taxes vary by county, hence the price difference.

Mostly it is "zone pricing." Oil companies figure out what people in various zip codes can and will pay and then require their dealers to price accordingly. So, indirectly, it is real estate prices, SES, etc. of the residents rather than taxes (although that does account for some state-to-stae differences). Manssas Park and 234 Business are two of the lower SES areas in PW County and hence the lower prices. The same tanker truck can fill up two stations a few miles apart and the retail price can vary by 20 to 30 cents/gallon.

BTW, that BP on 28 just across the county line is always very busy and often out of gas because of all the Fairfax/Centreville residents driving a few miles south. I go there (or a few miles more ot the Sheetz) to save $4-5 per fill-up. Multiple that by two cars filling up once per week, and you have $400+ in savings per year.

[Pinecone]

Also rent/lease for property and local taxes effect local gas prices.

Found the number, the record 3rd Quarter profits work out to be 7.5% on gross sales. Not a huge profit. Used to be the baseline for a business was 10% gross profit. Less than that was not good, more profit than that was a good thing.

And where does that profit go? Try to stockholders, like retirement funds, stock portfolios, most of which is held by small investors. Yes, the top execs get big bucks, but most of the profit goes tot eh investors.

[NoSoup4U]

Thanks for clarifying. I didn't know there is a difference b/w profits and gross sales. When I hear "x" company made "y" profits -- I assume ALL of it was profit, i.e., billions made = actual billions made.

I always thought when someone says they make 'x' gross profits -- that is after all things are deducted, i.e., what they actually pocket after all expenses.

So, if someone tells me they made 400 million for the 4th quarter in profits, I need to ask them how much were their expenses then? Why is it called 'profits' then if it's not truly profits? Is this accounting semantics?

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Thanks for clarifying. I didn't know there is a difference b/w profits and gross sales. When I hear "x" company made "y" profits -- I assume ALL of it was profit, i.e., billions made = actual billions made.

I always thought when someone says they make 'x' gross profits -- that is after all things are deducted, i.e., what they actually pocket after all expenses.

So, if someone tells me they made 400 million for the 4th quarter in profits, I need to ask them how much were their expenses then? Why is it called 'profits' then if it's not truly profits? Is this accounting semantics?

They said that SALES were over $1 billion per day. Sales do not equal profits.

They made a few billion in profit. Pretty poor results given the amount of sales they had to make.

[AlfaEric]

Thanks for clarifying. I didn't know there is a difference b/w profits and gross sales. When I hear "x" company made "y" profits -- I assume ALL of it was profit, i.e., billions made = actual billions made.

I always thought when someone says they make 'x' gross profits -- that is after all things are deducted, i.e., what they actually pocket after all expenses.

So, if someone tells me they made 400 million for the 4th quarter in profits, I need to ask them how much were their expenses then? Why is it called 'profits' then if it's not truly profits? Is this accounting semantics?

Gross Profit on Sales = Net Sales - Cost of Goods Sold

http://www.ameritrade.com/educationv...mestates.fhtml

---Eric

[Pinecone]

Yeap, basically for every $1 they sold, they made 7.5 cents. And that is not per dollar of retail sales, but wholesale sale of gas and oil products. The retailer is normally a franchise and makes some money to cover expenses and some amount of profit to keep him in business.

[NoSoup4U]

Thanks guys -- what about 'losses' per quarter. When a company says they lost $400 million (i.e., JAL b/c of higher airline fuel costs) -- does it mean they ACTUALLY lost $400 million AFTER operating costs ...??

How does a company stay in business if for the last 12 quarters, they have lost money each quarter? Where is the money coming from to keep it operating?

[AlfaEric]

Thanks guys -- what about 'losses' per quarter. When a company says they lost $400 million (i.e., JAL b/c of higher airline fuel costs) -- does it mean they ACTUALLY lost $400 million AFTER operating costs ...??

How does a company stay in business if for the last 12 quarters, they have lost money each quarter? Where is the money coming from to keep it operating?

They borrow it. Just because a company lost money for a while doesn't mean that it isn't good. The money is going somewhere, they could simply be re-investing potential profits (or borrowed money) into a future product.

---Eric

[Pinecone]

Or they could be tapping cash reserves. Large companies have large reserves if they have had some good years. Delta did this for a while.

[ob325]

Some companies will claim to lose money, but some transactions could be non-cash transactions such as amortization and depreciation.

[Pinecone]

Absolutely, there is profit and there is profit. And GOOD accountants make moeny being able to legally make the IRS forms show littlet o no profit, while the company is actually making money.

BTW I saw a report, Exxon sold $100 billion of product. So it is actually to be expected that they would have a profit of billions.

MEDIA, hype that $billions without putting it into perspective.