"It's hard to predict prices because many of the toys are brand, spanking new and still have their original boxes," he said.

In the longer term, however, oil company executives have recently been predicting stable prices.

For shorter time frames (less than a few days) algorithms can be devised to predict prices.

But the outlook is far better than last month's, when forecasters predicted average prices of $1.56 for the summer, with peak months reaching $1.80.

Many of the oil executives predicted stable prices but hoped for higher ones.

In fact, the authority's predicted prices average 15 percent below current levels, not 19 percent.

This is used to predict prices based on various attributes of the artwork such as its dimensions, the artist, and the subject matter attended to.

Oil experts predict lower prices toward the end of the summer.

And Georgia officials predicted higher prices on peaches and chickens.

The last point worth discussing is whether we are capable of predicting prices.