During times like this, some entrepreneurs figure, “hey, I can attract crowds with super low gas prices.” Of course, they’re right. Watch what happens when this ploy is attempted with gas prices at an all-time record high.

People showed up for the free gas, all right. They did to the point where a huge traffic jam ensued, causing even more gas to be burned, and we’re talking about full price gas. In any event, a Broward county Free Gas Giveaway resulted in the radio station who sponsored the event giving away 4,000 gallons of gas.

Today the trading on Wall Street has been choppy, but some analysts, such as Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc., expect better results soon.

“When you have this type of slipping in and out of the plus and minus column — usually that’s an indication that the market is trying to stabilize. But I think we’re going to need capitulation for the market to begin to stabilize,” said Cardillo.

After some initial downs, certain stocks are rebounding behind news that crude oil has bounced off its’ record high.

—Midday stock highlight:

H&R Block (HRB), announced they went from a loss to a profit in the fourth Quarter. “While we are not providing earnings guidance beyond fiscal 2009, we are confident that for the three-year horizon through fiscal 2011, we can realize significant gains in earnings per share through unit growth, greater efficiency in our tax and other operations, and capital deployment, rather than relying solely on annual price increases for growth,” said interim Chief Executive Officer Alan Bennett.

Oil is up, but investors are still hoping for good earnings news.

Analysts and Oil producers agree that excessive paper trading going on the oil commodity futures is to blame for higher fuel costs. These speculators never actually trade the oil, they just sell their lots of futures at a much higher cost.

Some feel that oil prices could significantly fall in 30 days if the Government steps in and regulates.

Senator Bart Stupak (Democrat – Michigan) is spearheading the initiative to impose regulations on oil speculators, called the PUMP Act (acronym for
Prevent Unfair Price of Prices) his act calls for banning Hedge and Pension funds from buying oil futures, making the transactions more transparent and increasing the amount of money an investor has to put down to purchase these futures. Speculators and investors in oil futures are only required to put down 5% – 7% in order to buy them, whereas stock requires a 50% down to buy.

You can definitely see where this leaves a lot of room for abuse.

Not everyone is convinced Federal Regulation is the answer, either. Some fear that this could drive
prices up further by driving oil traders will take their activities overseas and continue to drive the price up.

What are your thoughts? Do you think that Government regulations can help bring down the price of gas?

Check out the video. Steven Colbert certainly has some interesting ideas to cure the oil crisis, including shooting the Earth. Enjoy.