AAA Daily Fuel Gauge: Regular $3.985.
The ripple effects from the sharp rise in gas prices have grown tremendously in the last week as regular gas has risen from $3.886 seven days ago.
The irony of the rise is that gasoline demand has actually dropped in the US recently. “MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks retail gas spending, and the Energy Information Administration, which measures gas supplied to wholesale markets, both say that average gasoline demand has dropped for six straight weeks”, AP reports. That drop may end soon.. The summer driving season is about to begin. Americans may not be willing to give up their vacations in great numbers. And, commercial truck traffic has actually been helped by a strengthening economy, so miles driven by firms in that industry have risen.
The one industry which is clear beneficiary of the move up in gas prices is e-commerce. Several studies taken since the middle of April show traffic to e-commerce sites has risen much more than it normally does in late spring. The earnings at large online store operations like Amazon could be unexpectedly boosted by the inability of shoppers to get to retail outlet. A by-product of the trend is that it increases traffic volume for FedEx (NYSE FDX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS), each of which is struggling with profit margins due to fuel prices
Douglas A. McIntyre
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