Panic buying

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
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decomez6
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greenmark wrote:
Tue Sep 28, 2021 7:10 pm
Derek27 wrote:
Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:34 pm
One hour priority for key workers at the pumps, that's hardly going to be adequate!

They should just prioritise remainers since they didn't choose this mess. ;)
The factors appear to be long-standing exploitation of cheap European labour, reluctance of many industries to invest in training, covid somehow creating a 50000 backlog of hgv licence application processing at the dvlc and the media stoking a crisis for their own ends.
But the thing that strikes me is these issues were all there for the last 9 months. What has tipped it all into a minii-crisis? And it can only be the media's strategy right now. They can't resist ramping the emotion and misinformation up. It gets website hits, sells newspapers, harvests tv ratings.
We are only ever 3 days from anarchy. Certainly if the media don't act responsibly.
The left leaning media will prosecute their case against the right leaning media and the voter will make democratic judgement.


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Naffman
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Euler wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:08 am
I'm out of petrol now. I wasted my last dregs this morning trying to find somewhere within a 20 mile radius or so that had anything. Couldn't find it, so I'm now left with just 5 miles in the tank. Just enough to get me to the local station whenever that gets back to normal.
I'm probably lucky theres just been a petrol station a mile up the road that half of town don't know has opened yet :)

I'm really not sure what has happened to capitalism these days, why is it up to the government to fix every issue when all it really needs is these fuel companies to pay their drivers more. Maybe we rely on the govt too much, especially after the last 18 months where they've been paying most peoples wages.
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decomez6
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Euler wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:08 am
I'm out of petrol now. I wasted my last dregs this morning trying to find somewhere within a 20 mile radius or so that had anything. Couldn't find it, so I'm now left with just 5 miles in the tank. Just enough to get me to the local station whenever that gets back to normal.
some drivers have been using traffic updates apps to help find which pump station got traffic building up. that way you can be sure to get some fuel , less you make a journey with not enough for a retun journey. very frustrating -need fuel to find fuel :oops:
footysystems
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There is no panic buying in Manchester. Sainsburys always has some delivery every day :D
LinusP
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firlandsfarm wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:11 pm
LinusP wrote:
Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:10 pm
You do realise you are the problem? Can’t believe you are being so open about it tbh :x

It’s a complete nightmare in Sussex.
How am I the problem? If you care to read my comment you will see that I only filled up at stations where there was no queue ergo no problem! And as for Sussex, I topped up at Ansty in West Sussex with no problem on my out journey and again at Maresfield on my return. Maybe you like to queue, it gives you a reward of martyrdom!
You are the problem because you are not acting normally, you and the rest of the ***** filling up so that they have a full tank is the cause of the problem. If you can't see this then carry on, I won't be biting anymore.
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firlandsfarm
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LinusP wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:12 pm
firlandsfarm wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:11 pm
LinusP wrote:
Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:10 pm
You do realise you are the problem? Can’t believe you are being so open about it tbh :x

It’s a complete nightmare in Sussex.
How am I the problem? If you care to read my comment you will see that I only filled up at stations where there was no queue ergo no problem! And as for Sussex, I topped up at Ansty in West Sussex with no problem on my out journey and again at Maresfield on my return. Maybe you like to queue, it gives you a reward of martyrdom!
You are the problem because you are not acting normally, you and the rest of the ***** filling up so that they have a full tank is the cause of the problem. If you can't see this then carry on, I won't be biting anymore.
What I can see is what I was doing and why I was doing it ... what you can't see is any of that, you are making unfounded uninformed accusations without a clue. Would you set off on a round trip of 500 miles without a full tank and with some doubt of being able to fill it. Filling the tank early in the journey is what I would normally do, that was acting normally. And as my wife has to travel to a neighbouring town to work it is normal for her to fill her tank at a weekend so she doesn't have to do so during the week. That again is what we would normally do, that was acting normally. so please do tell me where 2 'normal' acts is not acting normally?

Now you have the facts you may choose to apologise and withdraw retaining a little credibility but I doubt that will happen. You say you will not "be biting anymore" ... a pre-planned withdrawal by someone who can see they have dug a hole and left themselves with the choice of digging deeper or admitting their error.

And I'm still waiting to hear how filling up at stations where there was no queue is an example of me causing the problem ... If you can't see this then carry on criticising people with your spurious claims.
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Euler
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Not sure it's worth people getting worked up about.

I blame nothing other that that great mystery of human nature. It was all pretty predictable. Predictably irrational, as has been the response to it all.
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Derek27
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Naffman wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:26 pm
Euler wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:08 am
I'm out of petrol now. I wasted my last dregs this morning trying to find somewhere within a 20 mile radius or so that had anything. Couldn't find it, so I'm now left with just 5 miles in the tank. Just enough to get me to the local station whenever that gets back to normal.
I'm probably lucky theres just been a petrol station a mile up the road that half of town don't know has opened yet :)

I'm really not sure what has happened to capitalism these days, why is it up to the government to fix every issue when all it really needs is these fuel companies to pay their drivers more. Maybe we rely on the govt too much, especially after the last 18 months where they've been paying most peoples wages.
That's what BJ thinks, wages will go up. I doubt he's thought much about the cost of wage bills for companies that employ or hire a lot of drivers and whether struggling companies can afford it. It certainly isn't going to happen overnight.
LinusP
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Euler wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:36 pm
Not sure it's worth people getting worked up about.

I blame nothing other that that great mystery of human nature. It was all pretty predictable. Predictably irrational, as has been the response to it all.
Thats a much more diplomatic way to put it, finding it hard to stay rational with the stupidity of it all.
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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

I think this is one thing that trading has taught me well.

People base their world views on their own experiences rather than the from a holistic perspective and people are predictively irrational.

Both facts ensure, if you can detach yourself, you can be better than the crowd, on average.

It's frustrating for sure, but I don't ever see this sort of thing ever changing.
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ANGELS15
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Apparently there's been a shortage of petrol delivery drivers (along with other HGV drivers) for a while. There's even an HGV driver shortage in mainland europe. The system was coping in the UK because most people were buying petrol as and when they needed it, say £20 - £40 at a time. The media then got wind of the fact that there was a shortage of tanker drivers and started the panic. It doesn't look likely to end very soon. What's bad is that it's not just commuters that are affected but businesses and self employed people like couriers and taxi drivers.
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firlandsfarm
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ANGELS15 wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:14 pm
Apparently there's been a shortage of petrol delivery drivers (along with other HGV drivers) for a while. There's even an HGV driver shortage in mainland europe. The system was coping in the UK because most people were buying petrol as and when they needed it, say £20 - £40 at a time. The media then got wind of the fact that there was a shortage of tanker drivers and started the panic. It doesn't look likely to end very soon. What's bad is that it's not just commuters that are affected but businesses and self employed people like couriers and taxi drivers.
It will end maybe soon, maybe not! When all the tank fillers for no real reason have full tanks they will not be able to draw much more!! :)
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ANGELS15
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firlandsfarm wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:48 pm
ANGELS15 wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:14 pm
Apparently there's been a shortage of petrol delivery drivers (along with other HGV drivers) for a while. There's even an HGV driver shortage in mainland europe. The system was coping in the UK because most people were buying petrol as and when they needed it, say £20 - £40 at a time. The media then got wind of the fact that there was a shortage of tanker drivers and started the panic. It doesn't look likely to end very soon. What's bad is that it's not just commuters that are affected but businesses and self employed people like couriers and taxi drivers.
It will end maybe soon, maybe not! When all the tank fillers for no real reason have full tanks they will not be able to draw much more!! :)
I'm not sure they may necessarily be able to fill their tanks as many stations are limiting drivers to £30 (not sure about vans?). Apparently as I write this around 20% of filling stations are still 'dry'. It could be that this becomes the new 'norm' for a while if drivers are restricted to around £30. This may mean longer queues than previously as people 'run out' quicker. But it could also balance out a bit as drivers switch to public transport for some journeys. In a recent interview Brian Madderson chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association explained that petrol station numbers had fallen from 12500 a few years ago to 8500 today.
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LeTiss
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In all honesty, as traders we should recognise the mentality behind panic buying

How many people here have mistakenly piled into a steamer, just in case they miss out?
How many people here have traded out for a red, quicker than they should have done, for fear of being shafted?

Being influenced by what others are doing, or unduly panicking about something has been the undoing for many traders at times
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firlandsfarm
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ANGELS15 wrote:
Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:18 am
firlandsfarm wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:48 pm
ANGELS15 wrote:
Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:14 pm
Apparently there's been a shortage of petrol delivery drivers (along with other HGV drivers) for a while. There's even an HGV driver shortage in mainland europe. The system was coping in the UK because most people were buying petrol as and when they needed it, say £20 - £40 at a time. The media then got wind of the fact that there was a shortage of tanker drivers and started the panic. It doesn't look likely to end very soon. What's bad is that it's not just commuters that are affected but businesses and self employed people like couriers and taxi drivers.
It will end maybe soon, maybe not! When all the tank fillers for no real reason have full tanks they will not be able to draw much more!! :)
I'm not sure they may necessarily be able to fill their tanks as many stations are limiting drivers to £30 (not sure about vans?). Apparently as I write this around 20% of filling stations are still 'dry'. It could be that this becomes the new 'norm' for a while if drivers are restricted to around £30. This may mean longer queues than previously as people 'run out' quicker. But it could also balance out a bit as drivers switch to public transport for some journeys. In a recent interview Brian Madderson chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association explained that petrol station numbers had fallen from 12500 a few years ago to 8500 today.
Yes but their psychology will be to add many £30 top-ups until they are full. Then it will need them to stay away until they have done 150 - 200 miles and have the room to add £30 worth of fuel. But they won't, the £30 limit may actually be causing them to be even more concerned and have them topping-up at any/every opportunity.

The 20% figure confuses me (I'm not questioning it). It means 4 stations need to handle the business of 5. I don't see how that causes such long queues. I wonder if the £30 limits where imposed are fuelling the queues because many are not waiting until their tank is half empty and the thought of a £30 limit has them thinking they need to keep the tank topped-up all the time.
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