Retail Gasoline Usage Down Again--4 Week Average At Multi-Year Lows

You would think that with the recession officially over and the stock market giddy with QE anticipation, retail gasoline consumption would be surging. But wait, gasoline consumption is an indicator of the real economy and the 4-week average has fallen back to levels not seen since Nov 2008. It seems that Americans don't feel like driving as much when they have to pay $3.10 a gallon (in Southern California) courtesy of Zimbabwe Ben and his money printing friends. If Ben has it his way you will be paying $5 a gallon so that the Fed can meet its much desired inflation target. From Spending Pulse:
 

U.S. weekly gasoline dipped 0.3% to 8.978 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 24, according to a SpendingPulse report by MasterCard Advisors LLC, a division of MasterCard Inc. (MA). The 28,000-barrels-a-day drop put demand at a four-year low for the week.

Demand was down 194,000 barrels a day, or 2.1%, from a year earlier. It was the third straight weekly drop and biggest year-to-year fall in three months, since the week ended June 25.

In the last four weeks, demand averaged 8.99 million barrels a day, the lowest level since the four weeks ended Nov. 14, 2008. The drop of 0.7%, or 60,000 barrels a day, from a year earlier was slim, but it was the biggest decline since July 9.

Based on declining demand for gasoline, you may be thinking that it is safe to short oil with impunity. However, you have to remember that Fed money printing has massively distorted the market to the point where it is no longer a free market--just central bank interventions. No wonder gold is at a new all time high.

Black Swan Insights

Retail Gasoline Usage Down Again--4 Week Average At Multi-Year Lows