> > http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- > bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/07/BUCS126BML.D > TL > > So Oil barrel price has fallen by 20% but prices at the pump by 9-11% > WTF? > > Why will airlines fight to bring you in but oil companies keep it > inflated and not undercut one another? > > Is there something totally illegal about how the oil products sold in > America don't behave like all other goods and services?
No offense Stephen but you clearly don't understand how the commodities and futures markets work. The price of gas is not linked to the price of a barrel of oil directly, nor is the futures price of that the same as the real price. The media talks mainly about the futures price. This is not unique to oil. After Bush came out for drilling, and lifted an executive order (imposed by his father, naturally) regarding coastline drilling, traders saw that the potential for the US to increase domestic supply in the future went way up. Therefore, the futures price dropped -- rather dramatically. The fact the issue is having an impact on the elections and may even force Pelosi to allow a vote on the bigger issue of domestic drilling as a key component of energy independence, which surely it must be. So does the fact that Americans are, as expected, curtailing their demand for oil in the face of the cost rising so much. The actual price of gas is more affected by that than by the futures price. Futures trading is an important function of the market. So called "speculators" take on huge risk, in order to help stabilize the market, and their losses and gains are commensurately huge. We love to beat up on them when they make a lot of money (and cough up half of it to Uncle Sam in taxes), but nobody cries for them when they lose their tails. The idea that we can inflate our way out of the need to become independent of *foreign* oil is so ludicrous, it defies description. Yes, we need to look for alternatives, ideally something that can completely replace oil, but the reality is that these are a long way off, and all our planes, trains and automobiles currently operate on fossil fuels. We lose access to those fuels through some geopolitical event, and don't have the ability to produce our own, then we're toast. Our founders would be dumbfounded at how both parties over the last 50-75 years have done everything in their power to make us dependent on foreigners for our energy (Dems) and manufacturing (Republicans); it's a recipe for self-destruction. Maybe then we'll appreciate how lucky we were to have what we had. It does seem to take that kind of catastrophe to wake people up. - Bob > > -- > Stephen Russell > Sr. Production Systems Programmer > Mimeo.com > Memphis TN > > 901.246-0159 > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
