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exxon mobil profits way up over same quarter last year.

surpise!!!!!!

At least it's down from $147, and gas is down a little.

Most of the talk now is that oil will hover around $125 for the short term, although there are more than a few who predict it's continued decline to around $100-110. Hardly anyone calling for $150 to $200 anymore.

Watch to see what happens with China after the Olympics. They have been buying huge quantities of diesel, which is likely to slow dramatically. Also, there is a lot of belief that they will eliminate subsidies on gas after the Olympics, reducing demand.

The dollar is strengthening slightly as well, helping with the price.

And last, but certainly not least, it is believed that Nancy Pelosi will introduce a bill the repeal the Law of Supply and Demand, dramatically reducing the price.

repeal the Law of Supply and Demand, dramatically reducing the price.

Bush would invoke a signing statement making law invalid. What would be the use.

Techinically supply/demand is an economic model or theory, not a law.
Are you at all familiar with the Price elasticity of demand , giffen goods & Oligopolies

or do you just throw around the tired ole' supply/demand law meme to make people think there's nothing that can be done about it?

You have no sense of humor, do you?

Like you post about China buying up diesel could be substituted for Leno's monologue tonite?

I'll stop by and tell you a few.

Don't forget your tinfoil hat. You're always much funnier with it on.

Obviously, the oil situation is quite complex. But the constant blame placed on "speculators," Big Oil, and other shadowy figures is not the problem. Just look at the price of coal over the last two years and realize that it is not traded on the futures market. Sure, it sucks that oil is so high, but it doesn't mean that some evil entities are to blame, although I know you feel better thinking it does. Besides, I'd bet we'll see $100 before we see $150, and $80 long before we see $200. And when that happens, will you want Congress to crack down on short sellers of oil the way they want to crack down on short sellers of 19 particular stocks?

Coal isn't a substitute to oil. Natural gas could be more so if auto makers would produce more gas powered vehicles. But as it stands now, Oil & Coal are not compatible substitutes like say coke & pepsi are.

Does this upset you?

Bush would invoke a signing statement making law invalid. What would be the use.

Techinically supply/demand is an economic model or theory, not a law.
Are you at all familiar with the Price elasticity of demand , giffen goods & Oligopolies

or do you just throw around the tired ole' supply/demand law meme to make people think there's nothing that can be done about it?

Maybe its more like a theory like the theory of evolution and we can find an alternative to it in the bible.

Don't forget your tinfoil hat. You're always much funnier with it on.



Obviously, the oil situation is quite complex. But the constant blame placed on "speculators," Big Oil, and other shadowy figures is not the problem. Just look at the price of coal over the last two years and realize that it is not traded on the futures market. Sure, it sucks that oil is so high, but it doesn't mean that some evil entities are to blame, although I know you feel better thinking it does. Besides, I'd bet we'll see $100 before we see $150, and $80 long before we see $200. And when that happens, will you want Congress to crack down on short sellers of oil the way they want to crack down on short sellers of 19 particular stocks?

It's a lamp shade. But thanks, i'm not very good a prop comedy. Ask carrot-top
Those 19 other stocks aren't giffen good commodities. Some experts attribute 60% of the cost purely on speculation. Couple that with investment companies relocating their futures trading units to the UK. Why , because England doesn't require nearly as much cash in reserve for futures speculators.

Coal isn't a substitute to oil. Natural gas could be more so if auto makers would produce more gas powered vehicles. But as it stands now, Oil & Coal are not compatible substitutes like say coke & pepsi are.

I am no economist -- I am mostly a listener and learner -- but I think the coal point, and the same point could be made for solar, is not that coal or solar SUBSTITUTE for oil, but that in using coal for electric generation and home heating, etc. etc. it would FREE UP more oil to be refined for gasoline for vehicles. Solar, wind, all the alternatives, would not substitute for autos either, but again, Obama especially is pushing the alternatives for power generation hoping it will leave us flush with oil for transportation.

Personally, I hope we stay at high prices for awhile. Not because I like to pay them, but because if the price stays high we (you, me, the goverment, big business, small business) have an urgency to develop other sources of energy other than the wacko Middle East countries.

I am no economist -- I am mostly a listener and learner -- but I think the coal point, and the same point could be made for solar, is not that coal or solar SUBSTITUTE for oil, but that in using coal for electric generation and home heating, etc. etc. it would FREE UP more oil to be refined for gasoline for vehicles. Solar, wind, all the alternatives, would not substitute for autos either, but again, Obama especially is pushing the alternatives for power generation hoping it will leave us flush with oil for transportation.

OPEC has mentioned numerous times that oil should be around $72bb. So why are we higher? Two reasons. One is a fear premium. We always have one since the wacko's in the Middle East are so unpredictable (Or predictable in that they will always be fighting), but it should not have suddenly gone to such an extreme.

Wrong. The point is that coal is going up as much as oil, while NOT being traded on the futures market. Suggests that there are some other factors than "speculators" involved. Do some research yourself. Commodities markets long term.

Metals, grains up big now, too. Why? Not because some of some bogeyman. If you want to learn something interesting, look into it yourself. Don't rely on me or anyone else on here for your answers. Find out for yourself.

Personally, I hope we stay at high prices for awhile. Not because I like to pay them, but because if the price stays high we (you, me, the goverment, big business, small business) have an urgency to develop other sources of energy other than the wacko Middle East countries.

maybe it had more to do with the house going on vacation and not voting on an energy plan....Bush should call them back.

Funny thing is, if I'd been given a job to do by my boss and I didn't do it, I'd get fired, especially if I repeated the stunt over and over again.

The boss in this case is the American people, not the president. The majority of Americans are in favor of drilling as a temporary solution. Even california now has a slim majority asking for drilling, but does Pelosi listen? What does it say about a politician when they won't even submit to the will of their own constituents.

Politics on both sides....

"Democrats had privately expected Friday's cloture vote to fail, setting up a natural political path to blame Republicans for blocking a potential partial solution to the gas-cost crisis."

China is bringing 2 new coal fired power plants online each week.
In the past, people on this board have pointed to a good source of what they think are reliable news sources. Fortune, Barrons, McClatchey.
What's the beef? Who know, one day someone may write a profound summation of the topic which will be pointed to whenever the subject comes up.
Or people will spend the forseeable future going back and forth on hot-button issues that never will affect them personally. Who knows
I tend to agree with this view. Necessity being the mother of invention.
Where i differ is it's not just wacko Middle Eastern countries. It's anywhere oil is in abundance. Russia, Kenya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia. As Tom Friedman put it "In petro-states, the price of oil and the level of freedom are inversely proportional."