Bill and Bill

[Oerets]

Originally Posted by Charles

I'd say you're correct, to a certain extent.





They're just playing the market, which not only affects your 401K, but international politics as well.

To tell the truth, I've known all along that the strategic reserves were good for maybe a couple of months, but thanks to Richardson's statement I have begun to appreciate the true nature of things.

It's a money game, I just never realized that the strategic reserves are only a part of it.

Did you?


Chas

Yes I did, a few years ago. well probably right after 911.

With demand going down and a ample supply you would think prices would be lower. But my money is on Wall streets finger prints all over this.



http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/27/mark...ules/index.htm

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/2...rs-behind.html




Barney

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Charles

Yew gotta joint???

Ain't seen one of them in years.

To tell the truth, I've given up of fixing THE world, but concentrating on fixing MY world. I have a certain amount of of control over that.

An although I get a case of the ass from time to time, my days of getting foaming at the mouth pissed off over the nature of things are pretty much long past.

Life's too short to be pissed off all of the time. After all, it's not what happens to you, it's how you let it effect you.

Why bother?

Chas

Now you're talkin'.

Dave

[Charles]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Aww, just blowin' off steam. Pissed off at myself, really, just got home from work. Whacked my left thumb with a dinky finish hammer hard enough to need a drink an' a dube, at least it isn't throbbing any more. Think I'll watch Bill Mahr diddle the news while I fix the ol' gal some dinner.

I hate little hammers, even my finish hammer is 20 oz.

Chas

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Charles

I hate little hammers, even my finish hammer is 20 oz.

Chas

All mine take is 80# of air.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by merrylander

All mine take is 80# of air.

I've probably got around 20 or so of those as well, as well as three compressors.

I've only got maybe 10 hammers, unless I include the mauls.

Chas

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by merrylander

All mine take is 80# of air.

Solid Maple faceframe cabinets with 100+lb. o'air and I'm still getting the occasional 5\8"finish nail peekin' it's head up. I was tired o' puttying up my backswing gouges using the 20oz. smoothface. I'm gonna dial it all the way up to 130 lbs come Monday. Just hope there isn't anyone downrange if it goes thru! No big loss if it's a plumber, though.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Solid Maple faceframe cabinets with 100+lb. o'air and I'm still getting the occasional 5\8"finish nail peekin' it's head up. I was tired o' puttying up my backswing gouges using the 20oz. smoothface. I'm gonna dial it all the way up to 130 lbs come Monday. Just hope there isn't anyone downrange if it goes thru! No big loss if it's a plumber, though.

LMAO! Plumbers and lawyers always have those full page advertisements in the Yellow Pages. I always wondered why until I needed a plumber.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by Charles

As I was fetching myself another Sam Adams, I caught a clip of Bill Richardson being interviewed by Bill O'Reilly, apparently discussing oil prices.

BR made a statement that during the Clinton administration whenever they released the strategic reserves, they put them on the market but didn't sell them. He said that it was effective in driving down oil prices short term.

As I only watched app 30 seconds of this I probably shouldn't comment, but the ramifications of this seemed to fly over BO's head. This is based on his past performance, as I have trouble determining if BO is playing the Devils advocate or is simply clueless...especially concerning oil prices.

I suspect Harvard doesn't offer any courses in humility.

So I'll ask the question BO should have asked.

What is the upside, or downside of playing poker with the strategic reserves? There must be one.


Chas

The release of the SORs would only temporarily affect the price of gasoline. How short the effect is can't really be easily predicted because there are far too many variables in play at an international scale. Oil is fungible and its future price will be determined by future investors whether they can or cannot be controlled by the U.S. government. Interestingly, the price of gas follows closely the price of crude plus taxes (~$0.70 in California) plus $1.00. That dollar covers all refining, distribution, profits, etc. along the supply chain.

Remember that over the long term speculators will lose if they are wrong. The stability of the market is enhanced overall by the speculators. The current increase also has a significant component caused by the continued devaluation of the dollar.

Regulating here will not hinder the international trade in oil futures and will likely cause less stable oil markets.

Here's an explanation by John Stossel:

The evil oil-speculator theory also runs up against the fact that the Federal Reserve's inflationary policies (QE2) and other factors have continued the dollar's slide against foreign currencies — to a three-year low. As the dollar loses value, oil sellers demand more for their product.

"Commodities, along with most traded goods globally, are priced in dollars," former Federal Reserve official Gerald P. O'Driscoll of the Cato Institute writes. "It is the old story of too much money chasing too few goods."

If Sanders and other economic illiterates get their way, we'll have new laws banning "speculation." That will raise prices further. Don't believe me? Think back to a previous time when a Senate committee said that "speculative activity causes severe and unwarranted fluctuations in the price. ..." That was in 1958, when people got upset about the price of onions. Fools in Congress addressed that problem by banning speculation on onion prices.

The result? A Financial Times analysis found that the ban made prices less stable. This year, the retail price of onions rose more than the price of gasoline — 36 versus 24 percent. Most years, the price of onions fluctuates more than other goods. No mystery there. Speculators help keep prices stable. When they foresee a future oil shortage — that is, when prices are lower than anticipated in the future — speculators buy lots of it, store it and then sell it when the shortage hits. They know they can charge more when there's relatively little oil on the market. But their selling during the shortage brings prices down from what they would have been had speculators not acted.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/john...nd-onions.html

The above onion example is a classic example BTW.

I think that most people make the mistake of not looking at the broader picture of speculation and that "speculators" get unfairly blamed. Moreover, the idea that Washington, through regulation, can control the price of a fungible international good, oil, is sheer idiocy.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by bhunter

LMAO! Plumbers and lawyers always have those full page advertisements in the Yellow Pages. I always wondered why until I needed a plumber.

Don't get me started on the advertizing.. too late.In my Andy Rooney voice, "Has anyone else noticed that almost every television advert is an insurance company?"

[Charles]

Originally Posted by bhunter

The release of the SORs would only temporarily affect the price of gasoline. How short the effect is can't really be easily predicted because there are far too many variables in play at an international scale. Oil is fungible and its future price will be determined by future investors whether they can or cannot be controlled by the U.S. government. Interestingly, the price of gas follows closely the price of crude plus taxes (~$0.70 in California) plus $1.00. That dollar covers all refining, distribution, profits, etc. along the supply chain.

Remember that over the long term speculators will lose if they are wrong. The stability of the market is enhanced overall by the speculators. The current increase also has a significant component caused by the continued devaluation of the dollar.

Regulating here will not hinder the international trade in oil futures and will likely cause less stable oil markets.

Here's an explanation by John Stossel:



http://www.creators.com/opinion/john...nd-onions.html

The above onion example is a classic example BTW.

I think that most people make the mistake of not looking at the broader picture of speculation and that "speculators" get unfairly blamed. Moreover, the idea that Washington, through regulation, can control the price of a fungible international good, oil, is sheer idiocy.

Thank you for addressing my initial query.

I suppose that what you're say is that releasing the SR on the market will not necessarily drive the price of oil down, primarily because they aren't big enough to offset the Fed's weak dollar policy.

And Uncle Sam would wind up holding the bag.

I'd like to elaborate more, but duty calls.

Chas