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There are two main components to any natural gas bill. There is the cost of transmitting and distributing the natuarl gas and the commodity costs. Keep in mind there is also the sales tax which in Texas would be (8.25%) Transmission and distribution costs - This involves transporting the gas through gas pipelines from the facility it is produced in to the local gas company and finally from the local gas company to a consumer’s house. Commodity costs - This is the actual cost of the natural gas not including the transportation or anything else. Find gas’ current price here. NYMEX The wellhead price also known as the commodity price of natural gas has made up more then 50% of the cost of natural gas. The efficiency of delivery and transportation of gas will further increase that percentage as technology continues to advance in that area. We have seen in the past 5 winters where natural gas at the wellhead has comprised the biggest percentage of the cost. The added demand and reliance...

Dec 26, 2008 - 03:29 AM by Jim Willie CB Editor of the “HAT TRICK LETTER” Home: Golden Jackass website "..To begin with, the US so-called ‘Deflation Experience' is not deflation at all. Sure, many investments are losing value fast. Sure, much credit is being burned, with heavy write-downs. But new money is coming into the system from the corrupt bond swaps, historically unprecedented rescues, bailouts, and nationalizations. The $8500 billion in new commitments highlight the inflation side. Also, never confuse the ample supply of crippled assets brought from off balance sheets to actively accounted big bank balance sheets, distorting money supply figures, but just exposing the shell game. The deflation that many analysts describe is actually a systemic liquidation that will be difficult to reverse, a necessary step by producing the critically important inflation. It will come, but with difficulty. The US is not Japan in the 1990s, but something much much worse. The USFed and De...

The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Bloomberg filed suit Nov. 7 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act requesting details about the terms of 11 Fed lending programs, most created during the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Track this law suit: Bloomberg LP vs Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 08-CV-9595

"Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist with the Concord Coalition, says her biggest fear is not hyperinflation and the social unrest it could unleash. 'I'm more worried about a lot of federal dollars being committed and not having much to show for it. My worst fear is we are leaving our children with a huge debt burden and not much left to pay it back.'" The federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative commitment to financial rescue initiatives to a staggering $8.5 trillion, according to Bloomberg News. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net Worth What investors can learn from Madoff scandal 12.21.08 People older than 70 1/2 will get mild IRA break 12.18.08 Soft landings in home loan crash 12.07.08 Retirement distribution rule changes proposed 12.02.08 More Net Worth » ---...

Peter Schiff: Outlook for the Gold Market - Seeking Alpha : "The Wall Street Transcript recently interviewed Peter Schiff, President and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, Inc., on his outlook for the gold market. Key excerpts follow:... Mr. Schiff: Because gold was priced in dollars, it's traded in dollars and so we all look at it as the dollar price, and the fact that gold has not made a new high in dollars during this economic crisis has led some to believe that maybe it's lost its luster, it's not a safe haven. But this rise of the dollar is very suspicious to me, I don't think it's justified. But it's been the unlikely beneficiary of all the problems. You've got the problem centered in the US economy; the epicenter of the financial crisis is in America. The reason that the world is in trouble is mainly because of bad loans made to Americans and it's our economy that I think is a complete facade, a house of cards that has now colla...

EconomPic Data: Leading Economic Indicators Point to Worsening Economy : "Conference Board: The leading index continued to fall in November, due mainly to large declines in building permits, stock prices, and initial unemployment claims, which offset the continued positive contributions from real money supply (M2) and the yield spread. Without the very large increases in inflationad justed money supply since September, the leading index would have been significantly weaker. The six-month change in the leading index has continued to fall -- to -2.8 percent (a -5.6 percent annual rate) in the period through November, down from -0.9 percent (a -1.7 percent annual rate) during the previous six months. In addition, the weaknesses among the leading indicators have remained widespread in recent months."

courtesy of NYT