Gilligan, I too have always been very skeptical of the whole supply and demand thing, but I suspect in this one instance there is some truth. Yes, I think there was a huge speculative bubble and all signs indicated that, BUT, with the almost total collapse of not only our economy, but most other major economies in the world, I suspect demand has dropped quite a bit simply due to people trying to cut spending as much as possible out of fear of what's ahead. I mean, even the Chinese, who have been supposedly driving demand sky high have been hit really hard (especially since they are the prime supplier of SO many consumer goods!!!) and are doing bailout packages for their industry. I wholly suspect that when (or God forbid IF) the global economy recovers and IF people feel secure about spending again that will be one of the first things to go back up! At this point in time with the way things are going, I wouldn't put money on much of anything! The fact that gas has now plunged below $2 here in CT and that groceries should hopefully be following suit soon due to lower transport costs are the ONLY bright spots in an otherwise DISMAL landscape! I would say a third bright spot is that I have my bike and it's paid in full, but since it's only in the high 20's here and blustery, and it's sitting in the garage on life support, doesn't really cheer me up!
