The paper tells me that North Carolina has the highest gas prices in the continental United States. Seems to me that this title is usually held by California, so something must really be amiss.

I’ll tell you what it is: North Carolina is being played. The oil companies are turning off the tap to bring us to our knees, either so we’ll cave and drill for oil along our beautiful, expansive coast or to help put oil-friendly politicians in the governor’s mansion and the Senate. Or it could be a way of striking back at Attorney General Roy Cooper for previous barking about price gouging after Tropical Storm Hanna (I say “barking” because I’ve seen no evidence of any bite). Somehow, some way, somebody is twisting the screws on us. I doubt its an accident.
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Either the economic sky really isn’t falling or my credit is better than I think. The stream of credit-card offers sent to me has continued unabated. I got one yesterday and another today. Normally I’d find this annoying but it has now become strangely reassuring.

The market is tanking today, and the Wachovia battle isn’t helping. Citigroup and Wells Fargo are still fighting to own Wachovia. Citigroup filed a $60 billion lawsuit, which is, I think, a bit much.

Citi also cites the $225 million “golden parachutes” Wachovia senior executives would receive under the Wells deal. While I’m not usually a fan of golden parachutes, if I were a Wachovia shareholder and the board spurned a $1/share deal for a $7/share deal, I’d say that’s the way to go. As a taxpayer, any solution that doesn’t involve my tax dollars is a no-brainer, too.

If the fighting keeps up, though, there might not be anything left of Wachovia worth buying.