On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:24:46 -0800, jps wrote:

On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:50:35 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:16:48 -0800, jps wrote:

Corporations are beholden to their stockholders, not the customer.

Any business is a balancing act between customers, stockholders
(owners), and employees. On top of that, throw in the government,
general public, media and financial services just for good measure.

My advice? Become a stockholder. It's very satisfying to be a
stakeholder in a well run business.

I am a large stakeholder in my own corporation, and it's run very
efficiently. But it's not in the oil industry where competitors work
in collusion. I have competitors in what's called a free market.

Any time oil/gas prices go up, it becomes very popular to think that
there is some vast conspiracy behind it. Who's fault is it when
prices go the other way as they sometimes do? There are vast numbers
of middle men involved in the production, distribution, refining and
transportation of oil. If they think prices are going up in the near
future because of a posible shortage, they do the same thing that you
and I would do, and try to buy more right now. The only collusion
involved is supply and demand.