On Oil, Freddie, and the AOL Time Warp

Be it resolved: We're at a price point in oil markets where we are screwed no matter which direction prices move. Higher prices smoke the economy and inflation, and lower prices screw the emerging alternative energy complex.

Thoughts?

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Nice and somewhat amusing distinction made about Freddie Mac (FRE) in a report today on Bloomberg. One analyst called Freddie Mac "profound insolvent".

Question: What is the difference between being "insolvent" and being "profoundly insolvent"? Isn't insolvent one of those words, like dead or unique, that kind of stands alone? Admittedly, it is a nice adverb, as my friend Barry pointed out on the phone to me this morning.

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Was your reaction the same as mine to this snippet from Time-Warner (TWX) this morning?

 

Time Warner said it had moved to separate AOL’s traditional dial-up internet access business from its online advertising platform during the quarter.

 

My reaction: AOL still has a f-ing dial-up business? Yeesh.

Comments

[furiouscalves]

i thought that coal to liquids price point for viabilty was stated to be anything above $40 a barrel. we'll be at 80-90 soon and settle. i think alt energy plays will still be good there - you just will have to find the more viable ones at that point - not just any and all.

[MHG]

Coal liguification into synthetic gasoline is expanding at a rapid pace in Canada. One such company is Canadian Oil Sands Trust. Coal delivers about four times the number of BTU's per dollar than oil so that the economies of scale are in place either way oil prices go.