$139 a barrel!

[McMack]

And we thought $90 oil was a crazy speculative bubble.

[BlackArcher101]

Just reading about it now... disgusting. And to think there's really no reason for the $11 increase today.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Speculation driving up oil prices? Crazy, I have NEVER heard of the happening before. Crap like this makes my blood boil. Funny how we have never seen a massive drop in price based on speculation.

Man am I pissed off now......

[browna]

Somewhat ridiculous that commodity prices are affected by some investment house'spredicition...thought that sort of paranoia and reactionary movement was saved for the over nervous online day trader with trading stocks.

Shows how jumpy and nervous some in the market (and I mean those that count) are.

Why's the Canadian dollar down 2c if the US$ is once again weakening?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

And to think there's really no reason for the $11 increase today.

I know what you are saying, but here's "why" it happened:

The surge followed a Morgan Stanley analyst's prediction that crude would reach $150 a barrel by July 4; a decline in the dollar and fresh tensions in the Middle East added to crude's advance.


For those of us looking for oil to drop, an optomisitic article:
Why oil prices will tank

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by browna

Somewhat ridiculous that commodity prices are affected by some investment house'spredicition...thought that sort of paranoia and reactionary movement was saved for the over nervous online day trader with trading stocks.

Shows how jumpy and nervous some in the market (and I mean those that count) are.

Why's the Canadian dollar down 2c if the US$ is once again weakening?

Because nothing about traditional economic theory applies to market behavior anymore.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I know what you are saying, but here's "why" it happened:

The surge followed a Morgan Stanley analyst's prediction that crude would reach $150 a barrel by July 4; a decline in the dollar and fresh tensions in the Middle East added to crude's advance.


For those of us looking for oil to drop, an optomisitic article:
Why oil prices will tank

I realize this is posted to try to explain why it happened but it's just the cirucumstances of why. Someone "thinks" something will happen and prices rocket up. No idea if it will happen for sure or not but lets jack up the prices just in case. I honestly can't put into words how much that gets to me. Even moreso when you consider the fact the the reverse will never happen.

[Azure]

Does Alberta directly benefit from this?

What on earth are we going to do with another few billion extra?

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Azure

What on earth are we going to do with another few billion extra?

Delay some more infrastructure projects a few years because current costs are too high of course.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

I realize this is posted to try to explain why it happened but it's just the cirucumstances of why. Someone "thinks" something will happen and prices rocket up. No idea if it will happen for sure or not but lets jack up the prices just in case. I honestly can't put into words how much that gets to me. Even moreso when you consider the fact the the reverse will never happen.

Agreed. And the fact that once financial company has such power. It's real simple too:

- They tell all their high end clients to invest in oil futures; as they think it's a good bet.
- They then publish and article saying they think it will get to $X by a certain date.
- They sit back and watch all the money they made for their clients; and for themselves.

Meanwhile a lower middle class family now has to cancel their summer road trip; the first family vacation in 5 years, because they can no longer afford the gas.

[atb]

Originally Posted by Azure

Does Alberta directly benefit from this?

What on earth are we going to do with another few billion extra?

Yes, there is going to be an absurd surplus this year as I believe the Provincial budget was made with using an average of $70 WTI, and probably a lower gas price outlook as well.

edit: I guess it was actually $78/bbl budgeted, with a possible surplus of $1.6B (seems low)
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...c-8d2ddb67f1f4

[atb]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Agreed. And the fact that once financial company has such power. It's real simple too:

- They tell all their high end clients to invest in oil futures; as they think it's a good bet.
- They then publish and article saying they think it will get to $X by a certain date.
- They sit back and watch all the money they made for their clients; and for themselves.

Meanwhile a lower middle class family now has to cancel their summer road trip; the first family vacation in 5 years, because they can no longer afford the gas.

I dunno about that, fear and speculation probably accounts for a slight premium, but I think it's the supply and demand fundamentals which is really driving the oil price higher.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

I realize this is posted to try to explain why it happened but it's just the cirucumstances of why. Someone "thinks" something will happen and prices rocket up. No idea if it will happen for sure or not but lets jack up the prices just in case. I honestly can't put into words how much that gets to me. Even moreso when you consider the fact the the reverse will never happen.

Exactly.
How does the suspicion of a single Morgan Stanley analyst cause the price of oil to jump $10? It seems like if someone says "The price of oil will reach $300, by the end of the year", the people trading the futures, would make sure it happened. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On my CNN business reports, I always see notices about how every month, US National reserves are always "Higher than expected", so the price goes down a few dollars. But then "something" happens, and the cost jumps 3x what it dropped the day or week before. 2 steps forward, 1 step back.

Eventually, the price will have to come down. it's almost like the people selling and buying are seeing exactly how much the market can take, and testing the waters.

There has to be something fishy going on. The market is completely out of whack, the littlest speculation of someone sneezing causes the price of oil to jump. We as the general public will never know, unless someone somewhere blows the whistle, if there is even a whistle to blow.

[Shazam]

It sure is making my ECA look good!

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Even moreso when you consider the fact the the reverse will never happen.

Tell that to the housing market.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Found this little gem in the link in ken0042 first post:

It's also true that most of the world's reserves are controlled by governments in places like Russia and Venezuela that mismanage production, thus curtailing supply growth.

Ok, why has nothing been done about this?

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Found this little gem in ken0042 link in his first post:
Ok, why has nothing been done about this?

Because it is not in their best interest to do anything about it. As the price of oil ever rises, so does their GDP.
Until they figure out they will get more money for more production, but then that will lead to more supply and less demand, thus reducing the price.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by arsenal

Because it is not in their best interest to do anything about it. As the price of oil ever rises, so does their GDP.
Until they figure out they will get more money for more production, but then that will lead to more supply and less demand, thus reducing the price.

Understood. That being said, why aren't people raising hell over this? Is this not a good place to start?

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Understood. That being said, why aren't people raising hell over this? Is this not a good place to start?

Ask and you shall receive.

Demonstration by bikers in the UK.
http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/ne..._price_protest

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Understood. That being said, why aren't people raising hell over this? Is this not a good place to start?

People won't raise hell over the price of something until that something is water.