$139 a barrel!

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by McMack

I wish I had saved a link to the web site, but I found a graph recently that showed that the overall commodity index was almost triple its 2001 low. At the same time, there has been a massive increase in the money supply. Under these conditions we should really be seeing hyperinflation, but inflation remains relatively tame.

What I have begun to wonder lately is whether it's not so much that the value of commodities has gone up, it's that the value of everything else (and principally, labour and anything with a labour component) has gone down. This would be the natural consequence of globalization, in a global market where there is an excess supply of labour.

Watch out when the slaves start demanding a bigger piece of the pie.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by McMack

I wish I had saved a link to the web site, but I found a graph recently that showed that the overall commodity index was almost triple its 2001 low. At the same time, there has been a massive increase in the money supply. Under these conditions we should really be seeing hyperinflation, but inflation remains relatively tame.

What I have begun to wonder lately is whether it's not so much that the value of commodities has gone up, it's that the value of everything else (and principally, labour and anything with a labour component) has gone down. This would be the natural consequence of globalization, in a global market where there is an excess supply of labour.

There has been hyperinflation - just not here. China and India are both experiencing massive inflation over the past few years - but thanks to their massive trade surpluses, they have the funds to cover up the deficiencies in their markets.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Oh, well, that's because the naive public, greedy farmers and the government pushed corn as a source of fuel. Take it off the plate of hungry people and put it in cars that commute from Lk McKenzie to downtown. As the guiness guys say: Brilliant!

Note to those easily offended not all farmers are greedy, just the ones that pushed for biofuel subsidies ... and anyone else who is pro corn based biofuel.

Fixed.

[macker]

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/ipsr/t14.xls coupled with the recent report I heard saying that we are in for 8 (potential) hurricanes this year has me thinking these insane prices could be here for a while yet. I can't even imagine what another Katrina would do to the price at the pumps! I can't stand fear mongering but this would be ugly!

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Azure

Fixed.

heh, fair enough

I remember lots of people were caught up on biodiesel talking about how it will be the way we can stick it to the big oil companies, and when the industry would say "you know subsidizing your lifestyle by stealing food from the system isn't cool" everyone thought it was just the oil companies whining about how they are getting swept up by a revolution.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

heh, fair enough

I remember lots of people were caught up on biodiesel talking about how it will be the way we can stick it to the big oil companies, and when the industry would say "you know subsidizing your lifestyle by stealing food from the system isn't cool" everyone thought it was just the oil companies whining about how they are getting swept up by a revolution.

Even better....a lot of people, including Lanny on this very board said that biodiesel fuel would wean North America off of the oil.

Great job so far. Not only is the price of oil through the roof, but the price of food is too.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Azure

Even better....a lot of people, including Lanny on this very board said that biodiesel fuel would wean North America off of the oil.

Great job so far. Not only is the price of oil through the roof, but the price of food is too.

Makes you wonder what other calamities await us from man-made schemes which are not thought through well enough.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Makes you wonder what other calamities await us from man-made schemes which are not thought through well enough.

heh live and learn, atleast hopefully the calamities aren't too big and we actually do learn from them.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

heh, fair enough

I remember lots of people were caught up on biodiesel talking about how it will be the way we can stick it to the big oil companies, and when the industry would say "you know subsidizing your lifestyle by stealing food from the system isn't cool" everyone thought it was just the oil companies whining about how they are getting swept up by a revolution.

Are you confusing bio-diesel with ethanol?

Producing bio-diesel does not necessarily require farmland (unlike ethanol). Bio-diesel can be produced quite easily in your own home using waste cooking oil. It can also be mass produced using algae.

[LouCypher]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

simple little world then. Do you think that maybe it has just a little bit to do with the industrialization of 1.5B people in China and India? Maybe a little to do with the fact that it is quoted in a currency that has dropped in value considerably in the last 3 years? Or maybe something to do with the cost of recovery of oil is going up sharply?

It's not a simple problem, there are hundreds of factors, if you keep your eyes closed and say it's the mean oil people screwin everyone one that may keep things nice and neat for you, but you turn your back to a large complex reality out there.

Well I can certainly agree it is not nearly as simple, seeing oil prices like this makes me wish it really was a simple solution. What really drives me mad is we are seeing Ethanol production start to eat at the worlds food supply due in part to so much great demand. Neither Oil nor Ethanol is required to live yet our world is so dependent on these types of resources that bigger problems get overlooked for decades or longer.

[McMack]

OT: Gas prices have hit as high as $1.48/l in Vancouver.

[if.away]

Pluggable hybrids + nuclear power plants to generate electricity.

[Dion]

**A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC OF ****BRITISH COLUMBIA***

The provincial government is sending each and every one of us a $100
rebate for the carbon tax.

If we spend that money at WalMart, the money will go to the U.S.

If we spend it on gas, it will go to the Arabs or Alberta.

If we purchase a computer, it will go to Taiwan.

If we purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras,
and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car, it will go to Japan or Korea or Europe.

If we purchase useless junk, it will go to China and none of it will
help the B.C. economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on
prostitutes and marijuana, since these are the only products still
produced here in B.C.

Thank you for your help and support,

Gordon Campbell
Premier of British Columbia

[arsenal]

Article on the price of oil, and promotes questions on exactly how much the price of oil is based on pure speculation, and based on actual supply and demand issues.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...xt=va&aid=8878

It also gets into a bit of conspiracy theory type stuff for those that like it.

Interesting read, I haven't finished it quite yet, and I haven't had time to do any actual fact checking to see if what is presented is true.

[SeeGeeWhy]

I would think that oil from coal, coke and other non-food stocks will likely have a bigger impact on the synthetic oil supply. It just doesn't make much sense in the long term why people would pick fuel over food if both goods are equally scarce.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Businessweek featured a number of stories about oil that were interesting - this on has some amazing investment numbers

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...e+channel_news

In the past five years investment in index funds tied to commodities has grown from $13 billion to $260 billion. More than 630 energy hedge funds are placing bets, up from just 180 in 2004

<>
In most markets, skyrocketing prices would result in increased supply and decreased demand. That would cause prices to ease. But the oil market isn't working that way. Supply is essentially fixed in the short term because it takes years to find new fields and bring them online. Demand, meanwhile, is also essentially fixed, since there is no ready substitute for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Flush with cash from investors of all stripes, traders observing these conditions have bid prices up and up.

[Shazam]

Sold my ECA this week. I've been thinking about getting into income funds again after the beating they've taken.

Kicking myself because I lost track of Peak Energy Services; they're up 123% from their YTD low. I bought some EIT.UN; unit price is acceptable and the yield is quite good.