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Thread: Why are gas prices rising? Duh.

  1. #1

    Why are gas prices rising? Duh.

    Isn't it amazing how completely clueless most people are about the reason behind rising gas prices? I've been reading article after article with no mention of the real reason for rising gas prices, which is of course inflation. You would think the fact that almost EVERTHING is going up would be the first clue.

    One article did mention inflation but they got it backwards, The heading was "Rising Gas Prices Drive Inflation!". Argghhhhh.



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  3. #2
    Or, you know, oil pipelines were reversed to hedge the difference between brent at WTI prices. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...864856270.html

    It's convenient to blame everything on inflation, so long as you find no consequence in looking like a fool.

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Jordan View Post
    Or, you know, oil pipelines were reversed to hedge the difference between brent at WTI prices. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...864856270.html

    It's convenient to blame everything on inflation, so long as you find no consequence in looking like a fool.
    That doesn't change the fact that oil prices have been on the rise for a long time now. As RP himself has pointed out, oil prices in gold have remained relatively stagnant where as oil prices in dollars have continued rising.

    To disregard the role inflation has played is just as foolish as attributing everything to inflation.

  5. #4
    Price is tagged to North Sea BRENT Crude not WTI.
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  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Jordan View Post
    Or, you know, oil pipelines were reversed to hedge the difference between brent at WTI prices. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...864856270.html

    It's convenient to blame everything on inflation, so long as you find no consequence in looking like a fool.
    This is nothing special. Gasoline storage facilities are full.

    Gasoline demand is at the lowest levels in a long while, yet gas prices are higher than ever before. That is inflation.
    What I say is for entertainment purposes only!

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  7. #6
    The Feds idea of keeping deflation in check by doing all these quanitative easings (bailouts) is really going to screw us all over sooner or later. Gas should be super cheap right now since unemployment is so high.

    I think the possible Iran war is not helping matters. The unrest in certain countries probably are not helping at all.
    Last edited by rockerrockstar; 02-19-2012 at 04:12 AM.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Jordan View Post
    Or, you know, oil pipelines were reversed to hedge the difference between brent at WTI prices. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...864856270.html

    It's convenient to blame everything on inflation, so long as you find no consequence in looking like a fool.
    Short term factors may cause the price of oil to fluctuate but the reason it's fluctuating around $100 a barrel and not say $50 a barrel is due to inflation.

    How do you explain the fact that almost everything is going up in price?
    Last edited by Madison320; 02-19-2012 at 08:50 AM.

  9. #8
    Several reasons:

    1. Oil is traded in dollars world wide. The strength of the dollar has declined (thank you FED), hence the reverse relationship to oil means it goes up.
    2. Government Regulations: Not allowing companies to drill (thank you environmental Nazis), means less supply on the market to meet demand, hence higher price.
    3. Gas refineries: We need more plants to convert the oil to gasoline. They are not the same.
    4. Taxation on gas (the hidden tax per gallon you don't see on your receipt).

    If we got government out of the way, we could get the cost of gas somewhere between $1 and $1.50 easing inflation across the board on items like food and clothing among other goods. Drilling for oil would add 1 to 2 million immediate high paying jobs long term. The boost to the economy would be felt by everyone. But as long as we have government controlling the supply via our laws/rules forcing us to buy from Canada and OPEC boosting their economies, we won't get any serious growth. And we all know why we have these extreme environment rules - so the Left's buddies in the green industry like Solandra can rip the tax payers off in an attempt to sell overpriced energy to the people. It's all freaking rigged against the people and in favor of rapist Al Gore's cap and trade schemes coming in the future where big Leftists all have their hands in already.
    Last edited by Liberty74; 02-20-2012 at 07:26 AM.
    If Rand does not win the Republican nomination, he should buck the controlled two party system and run as an Independent for President in 2016 and give Americans a real option to vote for.

    We are all born libertarians then something goes really wrong. Despite this truth, most people are still libertarians yet not know it.



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  11. #9
    I got into a debate with a guy who said: Obama is doing such a great job. Our gas prices are still lower than Europe's gas prices.

    So, I go: What does that have to do with Obama? Moreover, just because some other country or continent is worse off, doesn't make what happens here justifiable. If another country has a totalitarian system, does that justify the US Congress from passing NDAA, whiling saying "well, it's better than what's going on over there..."

    I didn't even feel like talking about how Europe has always had higher gas prices...

    People are clueless.
    Last edited by No Free Beer; 02-19-2012 at 09:18 AM.
    "I am, therefore I'll think" - Ayn Rand

  12. #10
    i have posted my thoughts about the price of crude on this and other forums many times , never one comment.

    crude oil is the only commodity in the world that is controled mainly by a cartel (OPEC ) , big speculators help pump the prices , as it is a no lose commodity , we will never see crude prices below $90/ba if things remain as they are now.

    the margin requirements on crude oil and the cracks ( gas/heating oil ) is 6% , meaning you can control $100,000 worth of crude oil with $6,000.

    the real price of crude oil should be $50-$60/ba , which would mean $1.50/ga gas and diesel fuel / heating oil.

    they will always trade crude as the elected officials are so much in big oil pockets,

    there is only one answer ----raise the margin requirement from 6% to 75%---make all contracts for delivery only , meaning if you buy one or 1000 contracts you must take delivery .

    you would see crude oil at $60/ba very fast.

    remember what a commodity trader is : someone that doesn't have the items selling to someone that don't want the items and both sides wanting to make money.

    for the free traders among us , where is the free trade when a controled commodity is traded on our exchanges.

    where would the prices of- corn--wheat--soybeans--cattle--hogs be if our great farmers had a cartel ?????????
    Last edited by ILUVRP; 02-19-2012 at 09:25 AM.

  13. #11
    My dad always says that prices haven't gone up at all, what are you talking about? Anytime someone brings up the price of gas or something else going up. Then he says the value of our dollar has gone down, not the price of goods going up.

  14. #12
    refering to my post on page 1 , i agree that the value of the dollar has a effect on all goods , that being said --the price of crude would be about $30-$40/ba if the dollar was at the level it was 10 yrs ago. thats why i said crude oil should be $50-$60/ba now.


    the price of gas ( only gasoline ) is about the same everywhere , just because countries put a $3-$4 tax per gallon on the cost doesn't change the price of the gasoline its self.

    if the price of crude were $50-$60/ba every family (and truckers having much more ) that use gas/heating oil/diesel fuel would have $200-$400 extra every month to spend on other goods they need.


    this should be one of Ron Paul's big items to talk about.

  15. #13
    Although this is somewhat accurate, prices ARE going up because wages are not going up as fast - therefore the real cost is going up for about 95% of people.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ronulus View Post
    My dad always says that prices haven't gone up at all, what are you talking about? Anytime someone brings up the price of gas or something else going up. Then he says the value of our dollar has gone down, not the price of goods going up.

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by ILUVRP View Post
    the real price of crude oil should be $50-$60/ba , which would mean $1.50/ga gas and diesel fuel / heating oil.

    they will always trade crude as the elected officials are so much in big oil pockets,

    there is only one answer ----raise the margin requirement from 6% to 75%---make all contracts for delivery only , meaning if you buy one or 1000 contracts you must take delivery .

    you would see crude oil at $60/ba very fast.

    remember what a commodity trader is : someone that doesn't have the items selling to someone that don't want the items and both sides wanting to make money.

    for the free traders among us , where is the free trade when a controled commodity is traded on our exchanges.

    where would the prices of- corn--wheat--soybeans--cattle--hogs be if our great farmers had a cartel ?????????
    So would you require that everything sold has to be physically delivered? Bicycles? Refrigerators? Just oil? Does it have to be actually physically delivered to your property? Would we have to "speculator police" monitoring all our transactions to make sure we're really receiving the goods? Sounds more like totalitarianism than a free market to me.

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/williams-...liams80.1.html

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Madison320 View Post
    Isn't it amazing how completely clueless most people are about the reason behind rising gas prices? I've been reading article after article with no mention of the real reason for rising gas prices, which is of course inflation. You would think the fact that almost EVERTHING is going up would be the first clue.

    One article did mention inflation but they got it backwards, The heading was "Rising Gas Prices Drive Inflation!". Argghhhhh.
    Hey, doncha know it's those evil greedy Arab oil-cartels, that's what driving the prices up or it could be those slimy speculators!

    Quote Originally Posted by Cabal View Post
    That doesn't change the fact that oil prices have been on the rise for a long time now. As RP himself has pointed out, oil prices in gold have remained relatively stagnant where as oil prices in dollars have continued rising.

    To disregard the role inflation has played is just as foolish as attributing everything to inflation.
    +1

    Quote Originally Posted by cubical View Post
    This is nothing special. Gasoline storage facilities are full.

    Gasoline demand is at the lowest levels in a long while, yet gas prices are higher than ever before. That is inflation.
    +1

    Quote Originally Posted by Liberty74 View Post
    Several reasons:

    1. Oil is traded in dollars world wide. The dollar has declined (thank you FED), hence the reverse relationship to oil means it goes up.
    2. Government Regulations: Not allowing companies to drill (thank you environmental Nazis), means less supply on the market to meet demand, hence higher price.
    3. Gas refineries: We need more plants to convert the oil to gasoline. They are not the same.
    4. Taxation on gas (the hidden tax per gallon you don't see on your receipt).

    If we got government out of the way, we could get the cost of gas somewhere between $1 and $1.50 easing inflation across the board on items like food and clothing among other goods. Drilling for oil would add 1 to 2 million immediate high paying jobs long term. The boost to the economy would be felt by everyone. But as long as we have government controlling the supply via our laws/rules forcing us to buy from Canada and OPEC boosting their economies, we won't get any serious growth. And we all know why we have these extreme environment rules - so the Left's buddies in the green industry like Solandra can rip the tax payers off in an attempt to sell overpriced energy to the people. It's all freaking rigged against the people and in favor of rapist Al Gore's cap and trade schemes coming in the future where big Leftists all have their hands in already.
    +++++++++1

    Quote Originally Posted by ILUVRP View Post
    i have posted my thoughts about the price of crude on this and other forums many times , never one comment.

    crude oil is the only commodity in the world that is controled mainly by a cartel (OPEC ) , big speculators help pump the prices , as it is a no lose commodity , we will never see crude prices below $90/ba if things remain as they are now.

    the margin requirements on crude oil and the cracks ( gas/heating oil ) is 6% , meaning you can control $100,000 worth of crude oil with $6,000.

    the real price of crude oil should be $50-$60/ba , which would mean $1.50/ga gas and diesel fuel / heating oil.

    they will always trade crude as the elected officials are so much in big oil pockets,

    there is only one answer ----raise the margin requirement from 6% to 75%---make all contracts for delivery only , meaning if you buy one or 1000 contracts you must take delivery .

    you would see crude oil at $60/ba very fast.

    remember what a commodity trader is : someone that doesn't have the items selling to someone that don't want the items and both sides wanting to make money.

    for the free traders among us , where is the free trade when a controled commodity is traded on our exchanges.

    where would the prices of- corn--wheat--soybeans--cattle--hogs be if our great farmers had a cartel ?????????
    Oh yeah, those cartels & those speculators!

    People who blame the "speculators" don't understand how the markets ACTUALLY work, the contracts bought are always equal to contracts sold because nobody can buy unless someone is willing to sell so raising margins doesn't do much, all it does is reduces the number of players & volumes go down & bid-ask spread increases & volutility is increased even further because the flow of information that directs prices is tempered

    And why an arbitrary number like 75%, let's have 100%, I mean it's not like we see stock-bubbles since they have to bring in 100%..............hmm, ok, wait a minute..........

    These speculative-markets aren't just there for people to gamble, they're there to allow markets to continually assess prices of things, especially those which have longer production-cycle. Before the advent of exchange-trading, prices would fluctuate MASSIVELY from one end of the spectrum to another, sometimes there used to be glut & prices used to go dirt-cheap & producers would get wiped out by losses & since it's dirt-cheap, producers would produce less & by the time, products hit the markets, there would extreme shortage & prices rising sky-high & that again, would cause producers to produce a lot more to exploit high-price & then so on & so forth

    So the exchange-trading & "speculators" play a role of "middlemen" between producers & consumers, they are constantly trying to anticipate supply & demand & keeping the markets "liquid" allowing for a continuous assessment of prices by the market, after all, "prices" there are merely people's perception & expectations of supply & demand so when the move over a period of time, it's ONLY because of information relating to supply & demand

    People don't speculate to lose money, they do it to make money but when prices move in a particular direction, it starts wiping out those in the "wrong-direction" & rewards those in the "right-direction" during a given period of time but in the longer term, it's the information that moves prices & the markets reward those who are anticipating supply & demand correctly & they make money while those who don't lose it, again, that's the function of the "speculators"

    Quote Originally Posted by Madison320 View Post
    So would you require that everything sold has to be physically delivered? Bicycles? Refrigerators? Just oil? Does it have to be actually physically delivered to your property? Would we have to "speculator police" monitoring all our transactions to make sure we're really receiving the goods? Sounds more like totalitarianism than a free market to me.

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/williams-...liams80.1.html
    ++++++++1

    You know, that's how it works, prices rise due to inflation caused by central-banks/governments (in conjuction with supply & demand of course) but they're always looking to blame someone else, they tell workers that the reason they can't keep up their living-standards is because of "greedy evil corporations raising prices", businesses think it's the "greedy workers & unions" that keep asking for more, bubbles are blamed on the "greedy speculators", crises are blamed on "evil greedy bankers" but what about the REAL CULPRITS? - central-banks/governments/politicians/regulators

    Here's another nice explanation on basics & necessity of futures-markets - http://www.investopedia.com/universi...#axzz1muWl5aaw
    Last edited by Paul Or Nothing II; 02-20-2012 at 02:59 AM.
    There is enormous inertia — a tyranny of the status quo — in private and especially governmental arrangements. Only a crisis — actual or perceived — produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable
    - Milton Friedman

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by ILUVRP View Post
    i have posted my thoughts about the price of crude on this and other forums many times , never one comment.

    crude oil is the only commodity in the world that is controled mainly by a cartel (OPEC ) , big speculators help pump the prices , as it is a no lose commodity , we will never see crude prices below $90/ba if things remain as they are now.

    the margin requirements on crude oil and the cracks ( gas/heating oil ) is 6% , meaning you can control $100,000 worth of crude oil with $6,000.

    the real price of crude oil should be $50-$60/ba , which would mean $1.50/ga gas and diesel fuel / heating oil.

    they will always trade crude as the elected officials are so much in big oil pockets,

    there is only one answer ----raise the margin requirement from 6% to 75%---make all contracts for delivery only , meaning if you buy one or 1000 contracts you must take delivery .

    you would see crude oil at $60/ba very fast.

    remember what a commodity trader is : someone that doesn't have the items selling to someone that don't want the items and both sides wanting to make money.

    for the free traders among us , where is the free trade when a controled commodity is traded on our exchanges.

    where would the prices of- corn--wheat--soybeans--cattle--hogs be if our great farmers had a cartel ?????????
    In 1998 or 1999 oil briefly touched $8. For about a week, gasoline was $0.96 per gallon in Connecticut and this state is always higher than the national average.

    OPEC existed in 1999.

    Problem is, the OPEC countries don't really get along and they have conflicting goals. Some countries want to keep oil prices low enough so that there is no incentive to create alternative technologies. Other countries want increased prices because they need more revenue. When the countries that want increased prices have control and they vote to reduce output, each individual country wants someone else to reduce output so that they can take advantage of the high prices and produce at full capacity. They all try to cheat on each other. There is no enforcement mechanism. The OPEC production quotas are rarely meaningful. OPEC's reputation exceeds its influence.

    If the price of oil rises to high for to long, you will see a large increase in investment into alternative energy technologies. It may already be happening, who knows. In any case, that is how the free market keeps a check on abusive monopolies. It's far more effective than government controls, which, depending on which way things went, could either end up in shortages or with subsidies and extending the lifespan of old technology.




    "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
    Ronald Reagan, 1981



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  20. #17
    Gas and home heating oil are absolutely killing me.

    I just paid close to $4/gallon for home heating oil and gas was $3.57. Considering my house is older and has poor insulation and I drive 30 miles to work each way, it's getting very expensive.

    High energy costs and high unemployment are a recipe for disaster.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Madison320 View Post
    Isn't it amazing how completely clueless most people are about the reason behind rising gas prices? I've been reading article after article with no mention of the real reason for rising gas prices, which is of course inflation. You would think the fact that almost EVERTHING is going up would be the first clue.

    One article did mention inflation but they got it backwards, The heading was "Rising Gas Prices Drive Inflation!". Argghhhhh.
    really? it's as simple as inflation?
    Why haven't housing prices continued to rise if that's the case?

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Madison320 View Post
    Short term factors may cause the price of oil to fluctuate but the reason it's fluctuating around $100 a barrel and not say $50 a barrel is due to inflation.

    How do you explain the fact that almost everything is going up in price?
    let's check that claim first. What are things that gone down in price?
    Labor? Electronics? Obsolete technology such as paper printed media? Are you counting post-bubble houses too?
    What about loans, are they cheaper or more expensive?

  23. #20
    In 1950 you could buy a gallon of gasoline for one silver quarter.

    Today you can buy a gallon of gasoline for one silver quarter and get change back!
    NOBP

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by onlyrp View Post
    really? it's as simple as inflation?
    Why haven't housing prices continued to rise if that's the case?
    Because 2 things determine the price of something. The supply and demand of the item AND the value of the unit (dollar) the item is priced in. There are too many houses and not enough buyers which is outweighing the effect of the weaker dollar. If the value of the dollar had not changed house prices would be falling even faster.

  25. #22
    i said nothing about all things traded being for delivery only , only if it was under a cartel where the supply could be controlled to keep the price high .

    i wonder why diamonds are not traded on the exchanges , could it be the the supply is controlled by debeers ? there are enough diamonds in the world to give everyone a bounch of them.

    crude oil is not in short supply there is more crude oil in storage than ever.

    i guess when you start paying $5/ga for gas and crude oil futures are at $150/ba ( therefor giving much more money to the bad guys of the world ) you will understand what free trade really means.

    the prices for bicycles/refers are controlled by supply and demand. there is no supply/demand control of crude oil, the price is controled mainly by big specs/producers.

    i will repeat --where is the free trade when the supply of a product is controlled ????????????

    name me one more product that is traded on our exchanges that has a cartel controling the supply.

    and yes , when leaman brothers / citi / goldman sucks and the big headge funds pump the price of crude oil up to make billions of $$$$ off the avg american -------make them take delivery of the crude if they need it so much.

    i feel very sorry for you people that don't understand .

    i will add , everyone remembers the early 80s when hunt/an arab/a so american tried to control the silver market , what did the exchanges do , they limited the number of contracts a non-headger could hold , they raised the margin requirement sky high .

    as a side note i own stock in USO , so if the price of crude oil goes up i make more money off the uso than i pay for higher gasoline prices , but all people can't do this.
    Last edited by ILUVRP; 02-20-2012 at 09:03 AM.

  26. #23
    Monetary inflation is always a factor. But it does not have to be the only factor.

    Quote Originally Posted by cubical View Post
    This is nothing special. Gasoline storage facilities are full.

    Gasoline demand is at the lowest levels in a long while, yet gas prices are higher than ever before. That is inflation.
    That is Oligopoly.

    Quote Originally Posted by ILUVRP View Post
    crude oil is the only commodity in the world that is controled mainly by a cartel (OPEC ) , big speculators help pump the prices , as it is a no lose commodity , we will never see crude prices below $90/ba if things remain as they are now.
    What about diamonds?

    Cartels and speculators have varying degrees of success at controlling or fixing the price and supply of commodities.

    There is no doubt that if a Hedge Fund or other large Wall St. speculator makes a billion dollars in a commodity, it comes out of someone's pocket. Could be the producer, the consumer, or a middle man, but that money doesn't come out of thin air. (As opposed to Wall St. bankers, who do get money out of thin air courtesy of the Fed).
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  27. #24
    On the local news here in California, the leftists are praising higher gas prices, saying that it needs to go higher to "change people's driving habits".

    Nothing more dangerous to the economy and the people than well-intentioned do-gooders combined with a crony corporatist government.

    "Can we raise prices? Well, sure, we can do that if it's needed to save the environment."
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.



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  29. #25
    And those twits will be first to throw rocks through grocery store windows when the cost of transportation for food means higher prices in the grocery stores...

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty View Post
    On the local news here in California, the leftists are praising higher gas prices, saying that it needs to go higher to "change people's driving habits".

    Nothing more dangerous to the economy and the people than well-intentioned do-gooders combined with a crony corporatist government.

    "Can we raise prices? Well, sure, we can do that if it's needed to save the environment."

  30. #26
    Some people are crazy when it comes to trying to stop people from driving because they see it as a environmental threat. It is really crazy.

    Now some of you supported the pipeline from Canada. It takes higher gas prices to make alternative means of getting oil viable like getting oil from tar sands.

    Personally I would rather that gas remain less than 2 dollars a gallon but currently it seems to be headed for $4 or $5 a gallon. Sucks for us.

    One upside is if gas gets too expensive then alternatives like plugin and hybird become more economical. The higher prices could help fund technology for future alternative cars and also help people start switching to these alternative cars. The scary news is that if this happens gasoline taxes would need to be charged in another means to help fund roads. So taxes will change to pay for roads.

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty View Post
    Monetary inflation is always a factor. But it does not have to be the only factor.



    That is Oligopoly.



    What about diamonds?

    Cartels and speculators have varying degrees of success at controlling or fixing the price and supply of commodities.

    There is no doubt that if a Hedge Fund or other large Wall St. speculator makes a billion dollars in a commodity, it comes out of someone's pocket. Could be the producer, the consumer, or a middle man, but that money doesn't come out of thin air. (As opposed to Wall St. bankers, who do get money out of thin air courtesy of the Fed).

    i did say diamonds are a controled and are not traded on the futures exchanges , in the 60's russia which has a lot of diamonds also was going to undercut d beers on diamond prices , dbeers sent people to russia and told them if they did that dbeers would dump so many diamonds on the world that the soviats diamonds would be worthless . guess who won that one.

    i have no problem with someone speculating in the commodity markets , when i had a farm i sold forward contracts on my crops to lock in the price i needed.


    i have a big problem when a cartel controls a lot of any product and it is traded like a free market product. i will bet anyone ( not $10,000 ) that we will not see crude oil below $90/ba in the next 5 yrs , if the price gets near $90/ba OPEC will cut supplies.

    where is the free mkt , i would advise everyone to forget gold/silver and buy crude oil .
    Last edited by ILUVRP; 02-20-2012 at 08:17 PM.

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by ILUVRP View Post
    i have no problem with someone speculating in the commodity markets , when i had a farm i sold forward contracts on my crops to lock in the price i needed.

    i have a big problem when a cartel controls a lot of any product and it is traded like a free market product.
    Well, sometimes it's a matter of degree. Selling forward contracts on your crops is part of the farming business. No problem there, especially if your contracts are with people who will actually take delivery of your product. I question the need for a Chicago Exchange and Hedge Funds to be part of that process though. We should question the wisdom of commoditizing every conceivable product and financial instrument in the world. This does not benefit the core businesses, supply chains and customers involved. It does further the agenda and reach of Wall St. banksers like JP Sachs, who in essence collect a tax on every possible business transaction. Look how well that worked out when they commoditized debt.
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

  33. #29
    Oil prices are rising because investors know that we'll be going to war with Iran soon.

  34. #30
    I actually wrote this note concerning gas prices and inflation on my facebook today:

    For the past four years now we've seen gas prices rise steadily from an average of $1.84 per gallon to what I paid today, $4.07 (I run 93 in my car). The talking heads on the television are putting the notion in our heads that this is because of the recent tensions in the middle east namely Iran. Frankly I find this rather insulting because A.)This is not how economics works, the Supreme Leader of Iran doesn't wake up one day and decide to charge an extra $50 for a barrel of crude and B.) Iran is one of many oil producing countries and it is only second tier at that. The U.S. produces around 225% the daily amount of crude oil that Iran does.

    So why the rising gas prices?
    First we must ask ourselves, are gas prices actually rising?
    There are two answers. A keynesian economist would say yes.
    I fancy myself an austrian economist and I say no.
    We look at the data and acknowledge that yes, it costs more dollars for a barrel of crude than it did in 2008.
    However this is not so much because gas is more expensive, as it is the dollar losing its value through inflation.
    I'm sure you've heard of the housing bubble. Unsustainable housing loans given through the government organizations Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac artificially inflated the housing market which popped in 2008 crashing the stock market and causing a dangerous period of intense deflation. One arguably positive short term side effect of this crash was the dramatic drop in gas prices (nearly $2/gallon!).

    However over the past 3 years we have seen the market correct itself and once again gas has risen to sit comfortably around $4/gallon. Let's take a quick look at the chart below, first the data represented by the black line - the price of gas. Holy crap, it's getting expensive lately isn't it? Well I guess. That's the line the keynesians focus on. Now I'm going to give you the red pill and we're going to look at the data adjusted for inflation on the red line. That makes things much more interesting. We see the red line affected by the economy somewhat, dropping and rising and yet, peaking at the SAME PLACE in 1918, 1981, and now.
    Essentially what this means is the net cost of gas HAS NOT RISEN and you are BEING LIED TO.
    The cost of gas has not risen - only it's price in dollars!

    [IMG]url=http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=785694189_Inflation_adjusted_gasolin e_price_med_122_441lo.jpg[/IMG]
    Gas price adjusted for inflation.

    So, what's behind the rise in gas prices? Its that same evil word that's behind the rising cost of clothing, food, and other consumer commodities - one you may hear about is gold, which has risen to a rediculous price in the past 5 years as people move their wealth to gold instead of the dollar (they know what is coming).

    Some say its Bush's fault, some say its Obama's fault, I say its the fault of the bankers and every president since 1913. The Federal Reserve System, created in 1913 along with the income tax, prints money and loans it to the government with interest. The money taken from our income tax goes back to the federal reserve to pay this interest and it becomes a vicious cycle that America has been dragged through for 100 long years now. We've managed to save ourselves by printing money and artificially inflating and deflating the system many times over, but with a $15 trillion debt and the dollar having been devauled 96% from its original value we have reached the end of this cycle and we will stop the easy way or the hard way.

    Soon we will experience hyperinflation and the dollar will fail. This will happen in the next 1-5 years. If you want to avoid losing your entire savings or being without money when this happens I suggest buying silver or, I suppose gold if you can afford it (just go with silver its easier). This is an easy failsafe to protect yourself from financial disaster, and worst case you can just sell the silver back for a profit.

    Before I go, I will add that the only presidential candidate that understands inflation is Ron Paul. He has the knowledge and the plan to fix the economy and he is the man responsible for me knowing what I know now. This is the guy that is going to save us if we choose to let him. Don't be fooled by the people telling you he can't win. He most certainly can if we, the people, wake up fast enough.

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