Speculators: Uncle Joe is coming to get ya

hironegro · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 08, 2008 Posts: 349

The CFTC chairperson just said on smart money prices are due to supply and demand; to lesser extent weak dollar as well. Rolling Eyes

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1971

JD, to think I defended you recently.

Troll.
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Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.

JohnDenver · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Aug 29, 2004 Posts: 1866

Revi · Fusion Joined: Apr 25, 2005 Posts: 3259 Location: Maine

I think that the price is set by the demand or lack of it, isn't it? Pension funds aren't going to be able to push to price past the point where it sells for what it's worth. They managed to produce a bubble in real estate with all sorts of financial shenanigans. I don't think Calpers is borrowing money to speculate in commodities. They are using their clients pensions. I think I would have loved to have my pension in oil ETF's or something.

There aren't many ways to hedge against inflation. Commodities are a pretty good play. That's called capitalism.

If Joe decides that people can't play that game, he's going to force people to put their pensions back in the stock market. The market is not keeping up with inflation.

Maybe that will help out the stock traders.

Thanks Joe. Way to stick it to the man!
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Deep in the mud and slime of things, even there, something sings.

seahorse · Expert Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 2196 Location: Arkansas

Will this legislation also stop world banks and other large institutional investors from shorting gold? shorting silver? steel? I'm all for it if it does. The dollar will drop, and oil prices in dollars will skyrocket.

mark

Stress a collective and the crazies come out, though you've been out for quite a while, haven't you JD. You(crazies) always want someone to blame; just another way to keep the illusion that is your life alive a little longer.

Speculators don't support the market, the market supports speculators. If there were no fundamentals behind a price move, there are plenty of commercials willing to take the other side. Take out the speculators, who are the commercials going to feed on?

Wacky government action is always fun to watch. They can't help themselves it seems, guaranteed to Fark things up beyond all repair. Only a matter of time now.
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Who is John Galt?

BigTex

In an efficient market, wouldn't one expect rampant speculation as a dramatic change in the supply and demand dynamics appears on the horizon?

Regarding a "government solution" to high oil prices, that is ridiculous. Government doesn't solve problems, it finds creative ways to enhance them.
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Smile

Daculling · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 1357

ColossalContrarian · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 634

Speculators will move to other currencies as the rest of the world moves away from and drops the dollar. Welcome to the Global Economy!

Precipice · Tar Sands Joined: Mar 04, 2008 Posts: 39

Adjusting for inflation, forward oil prices are lower than present-day prices:

http://www.energybulletin.net/44666.html

Speculators may be "pumping" the market, or they may not be. But even if they are it makes good economic and even moral sense for the oil market to be "pumped", because the upward pressure that speculators (may) put on oil prices acts as a proxy for important factors that would otherwise not be (and until relatively recently have not been) impounded into the market price of oil, such as: the demand of future generations for this finite non-renewable resource; the costs associated with greenhouse emissions and other negative externalities of burning oil at a profligate rate; and the true (immense) value, versatility, and uniqueness of this wonderous commodity.

But I will admit that even if peak oil is happening now, the $5 jump in the price of oil overnight earlier this week seems neither realistic nor sustainable as a trend. That mini-spike made me wonder:
What if there is some group of market participants like the legendary Plunge Protection Team, except that this group's motivation is to bring oil prices back down. They might be operating under the assumption that there is a speculative bubble in the oil market, and perhaps they think that by pushing oil prices higher at a sufficiently rapid rate that they will cause the oil bubble to pop-kind of like blowing a balloon up so much that it bursts-and send prices down to wherever TPTB think/hope prices should be. Or am I just indulging in wild speculation myself here?

max_in_wa

Tyler_JC

Good thing my money's in Ireland. Smile

My only hope is that Bush can veto this legislation and that the Democrats can't override his veto.

Otherwise America is going to lose out on a lot of great financial services jobs and international investment.

Bills like this are absolute bullshit and everyone knows it.
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"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse."

cube · Fusion Joined: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3586

threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 7508

Oh no, it's the pro-corporate "libertarians" again!