Do you think it's interesting that the fuel companies "coincidentally" all decide to raise their prices the same amount at the same time? Aren't there laws against this sort of collusion?
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Bull wears a COAT of many colours
ANSWERS: 4
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I have never understood the laws against price fixing. They are there, but they basically say it's illegal for the companies to get together behind closed doors and decide what price to collectively offer. Since prices of each are wide open to public scrutiny, each company can see what others are offering and match them legally should they so choose. So why pay for a secret meeting anyway? It is both cheap and legal to do it in the light of day. :)
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This must be some sort of manipulation of oil stocks by some tycoons. May be within US or outside. This industry is controlled by mafia.
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It's not a coincidence. Their costs go up and down at the same time, by the same amount. It's not surprising that their prices would do the same.
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It is illegal for them to talk to each other about the price they are going to charge, and to plan to raise their prices at the same time, or to keep them at an artificial level. But it in not illegal for one company to raise its prices, announce that publicly, and others to follow that price, up or down. However, it is also true that, by and large, their costs go up and down at the same time. They are all buying oil in the same market, paying the same taxes, and have about the same running costs (anyone with higher running costs having gone out of business). Because of the extreme sensitivity of buyers to what is absolutely a commodity product, it is not unusual for filling stations to have instructions to match the price of nearby competitors. As long as they go and find out for themselves what the competitor is charging, rather than the competitor calling them up and telling them, this is not collusion.
Jim in a Nautilus COAT RELATED QUESTIONS
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