Jim Cramer says $5.00 gas in next 6 weeks...

[dkf]

Yikes.

[4dsc]

1. I raise his $5 and say watch out $6... nt

[shaniqua6392]

2. Well until Americans are willing to sacrifice a bit,

drive a little less, buy a little less, etc. we are going to get screwed up the butt. They got us over a barrel, so to speak.

[datasuspect]

3. many americans i know have lost and sacrificed too much already

[JANdad]

5. What more pray tell...

Should I sacrafice?

[iamjoy]

8. Don't Take It Personally

If you are already living sensibly or frugally, it may not be directed at you personally.

It is directed at people with small families and white or pink collar jobs, but drive big SUVs because they are used to it and can't imagine going smaller.

It is directed at people who have a 15+ mile commute and could carpool, but don't because it is inconvenient.

What about people who have no kids or only a couple of kids, but want 3,000+ square foot houses (admittedly, if they are already in them, it is hard getting out now)

It could also be a learning thing. Most Americans (self included) don't know how to deal with higher energy costs. Our society is going to have to shift how we think of things. In Europe people have dealt with high gas prices for years, and yet I'm sure they have poor people too. So, how do they deal with it?

[eilen]

17. Some can just not afford to buy a new car

Like me. I have a Blazer. It uses too much gas. It is paid for. I just drive less. I'd love to replace it with a small car or a hybrid but I just cannot afford a car payment. I won't go into debt. There are others who are already in so much debt they can't afford to add another payment or they can't qualify for financing--esp. those that are stretched with their ARM's. My friend has a >3,000 sq. ft. home they built. They paid for most of it-- definitely put over 20% down and then paid for all upgrades during the building process out of pocket. The energy efficiency is better than my home which is half the space due to building technology. Their high outlays are in property taxes which total $15,000 per year. They are in a planned community which doesn't allow garden planting or clotheslines and which charges them a HOA fee monthly. They could try and sell but I don't know that they could get a decent price in this economy. They have 4 kids and the mother in law lives there so it is not a case of 2 people rattling around in a McMansion. All I can say is, I told them not to move!

I don't believe in judging people when it comes to things like this because the fact is terms and conditions change in this country very fast. Our government frequently allows less and less regulation to corporations and more and more regulation to its citizens (less protection, more exposure, higher liability). You cannot fault people for purchasing SUV's when they were tax incentivized, or they live in places that see worse and worse winter road conditions as the local governments can't afford to maintain them well or have leased the maintenance responsibility to a contractor. What's next, blaming the factory worker for the loss of his job? He should have known better? I watched an entire strip of plazas and big box stores, hotels and restaurants built around the corner from me over a year and a half while my electrician husband was home unemployed because all the work went to out of town, non-union companies. He had to travel all over the country to find work through the union (talk about gas expenses)--meanwhile the health benefits cover less and less. The job he is on now, he has lacerations all over his hands because the fittings for the pipes were made in China and they don't fit well at all and he has to "make them fit." This takes longer and decreases productivity.

In this country, we need to rethink many things.

[iamjoy]

20. That's Why I Was Specific

When I said people who drive gas guzzlers because they just don't want to drive smaller cars. I'm not talking about the handyman who needs the larger car for his tools and equipment. When it comes to homes, a lot of newer houses are more efficient than smaller older ones, but that is not the point. The point is, does the person need that large a car or house?

In part, it is about people who see large houses and cars as status symbols.

It is also about changing the whole way we think of things. Your remark about people who bought SUVs when the tax incentives were different (and fuel prices lower) is exactly the point - as Americans we do not think ahead.

[eilen]

22. Well, it certainly was not a shortage

of housing that spurred the over-large home building in the suburbs while homes in the city were left vacant. But even though I would love to live in the city, I would not d/t the school system--it sucks.

I understand where you are coming from though.

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. Houses - How many square feet per family member would you allow?

[uppityperson]

24. Not being able to afford to pay med bills because food costs are so high=anal sex?

OK, I admit I'm a bit touchy about "screwed up the butt" and prison rape jokes, but I am having difficulty paying some med bills, have a tooth that is broken and can't get fixed, because I am low enough outgo to be able to be low enough income so that there is not a lot of slack there. Food costs are taking up the slack, my doctor isn't happy, my tooth isn't happy.

Those who are rich will and do suffer less than those who are on the lower end of having a cush. Unfortunately getting the rich to suffer and change is difficult, and many of the rest of us already are.

[cherokeeprogressive]

25. Gas prices will never go down. Ever. No amount of sacrifice will change that.

China and India make up almost 36% of the world's population. And they are waking up economically. Discovering their thirst and love for fossil fuels. What we don't buy, they will. And, they have deep pockets. Prices will either remain static or they will continue to rise. The world needs to get used to that.

On the other side of the coin, Europe has been paying artifically high prices for decades because of our OWN love for crude. They've survived, nay, they've THRIVED while we were screwing THEM up the butt, as you put it.

Oil prices will never cease to rise. Get used to it. I'm not afraid though. We'll adapt, and we'll survive. It might take years, even decades to get back to the point of thriving, but we'll get there. Yeah, call me stupid. It's what I believe.

[ShortnFiery]

4. Cramer also has no respect for HISTORY when, during WWII, gas was rationed ...

people planted "victory gardens" and rationed certain foods.

Ole Jim Cramer is living in the 1970s by disrespecting Jimmy Carter. The first GREEN President who placed solar panels on the WH. We all know that those babies were smartly torn down the first day Saint Ronnie moved in. :(

Makes you wonder: What if we did LISTEN and HEED Jimmy Carters noble encouragements for Americans to conserve gas and fossil fuels during the late 70s? Where would the USA be now IF ONLY we listened to Carter? :shrug:

[madrchsod]

6. raise the price till the world economy collapses.....

[nradisic]

7. When everybodey says so...it ain't so...

I say we see $3 gas way before we see anything close to $6. The price upswing of crude is beyond unsustainable at this point. It has gone up so fast so quickly that it will crash just like the Nasdaq in 2000, just like the housing market.

[rustydad]

21. Nope

Diesel was $4.95 last night at a local Unical freeway station. This morning it was $5.19. This is being caused by supply and demand. And speculation (futures) that in fact price is going up because of demand outstripping supply. Peak Oil is here folks and it has been here for several years. 2004, 84 million barrels a day. 2008, 84 million barrels a day. Over. Done. Get thy a bike. Bob

[StarryNite]

27. Nope

They have us over a barrel, an oil barrel. They can do what they want with us.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. Zero Correlation Between Cramer And Reality

As random as a Magic 8-Ball, but far more annoying.

[Enrique]

10. "Bear Stearns is fine!!!!!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUkbdjetlY8

[Nickster]

13. Exactly, wasn't he touting investing in home builders just a few weeks ago?

[JI7]

11. he is often wrong so i wouldn't worry just based on his words alone

[Ian David]

12. He also said to hold on to your BearStearns stock. n/t

[dkf]

14. He wasn't talking about the stock, he was talking about keeping your account at Bear Stearns

and really it wouldn't have been very responsible to tell everyone to basically run on the bank.

[PFunk]

15. Actually gas just hit the 4 dollar mark at the gas station near me today

And that's in Columbus Ohio. So I more than expect 6 dollar gas by july 4.

[Phred42]

16. Brilliant - It's $4.20 in N.IL right now - How cleaver to think it will be at $5 soon

That idiots runs is over

:crazy: :silly:

[Serial Mom]

18. $4.20 for regular in Milwaukee area - up $.20 overnight

I believe it is easy to see $5.00 by Labor Day!

[El Pinko]

19. ...then it's heading for $2.00

I would have expected $5 gas before reading your post, but Cramer's predictions are so notoriously unreliable - I wouldn't take them with a grain of salt, but a horse's whole salt lick.

[kestrel91316]

23. Well, definitely by Labor Day.

[KillCapitalism]

28. I think we'll see $5 BEFORE 6 weeks is up.

Count on it!