The secret of Magic Mike's and gas prices

We did a story on the TV station this week about how gas futures shot way up this week, and experts tell us we can expect prices at the pump to follow in step, perhaps up another quarter to the levels we had to pay in the Katrina/Rita days last fall. Not good.

No sooner than I was driving home from work that night and passing by Magic Mikes (the two gas stations that have a corner on the Grapevine Mills gas market), and they had raised their prices by at least 15 cents. Just like that. Tonight, Mikes is at $2.99 for regular, but the FM stations are both at $2.85. That's a big difference if you're filling up that SUV.

I've been comparing gas prices at Magic Mikes and the two FM2499 south Flower Mound gas stations (Diamond Shamrock and Exxon) for years. Here's what I've learned:

• When the trend for gas prices is on the rise, Magic Mike's is usually first to raise prices. We've interviewed "Mike" before and I know he really watches those wholesale price sheets (and he's probably watching the markets too). If the trend is up, take a close look at the FM stations, because you'll generally find cheaper prices here.
  
  
• But the reverse has shown to be true too. When gas prices are trending down, Mikes is often a bit quicker to lower prices, compared to the FM stations. I find this somewhat ironic, since the only market force to drive down prices is competition, and Mikes really has no competition where he's at. But that's what I've noticed over many ups and downs in the cycle.