Comments on Amit Sengupta's articles RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/author/amit-sengupta/articles http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-189382 189382 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:08:31 -0400 Speculators play a huge role in this mess. Or my name is not Sub-Prime Loan.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-189349 189349 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:27:29 -0400 Here is an interesting chain of events that nobody likes to talk about...
1. In 2000, an orbiting space probe discovered evidence of water flows on the surface of Mars. This supported a long held belief that channels and rivulets on Mars surface were created by running water long ago. Water means that life may have existed.
2. Oil is formed from the remains of animals and plants living in a water environment. Over time, the layering of sediment over the remains combined with heat and pressure result in petroleum deposits.
3. Methane was discovered in the Martian atmosphere by the European Mars express orbiting spacecraft. Methane is a hydrocarbon and has been thought to originate, as petroleum, from dead organisms. In the 1990s, a different theory was introduced suggesting that coal and oil may actually derive from methane (usatoday.com/tech/...).
4. In 2000,NASA, in conjunction with the Department of Energy and engineers from the oil and gas companies, band together to invent a robotic drill to drill "the water" from within Mars. (space.com/sciencea...)
5. In 2004, George W. Bush delivers a speech at NASA touting the exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond in the quest for valuable "resources".
6. In 2006, the prototype of the Mars drill is completed and tested.
My point is the government appears to believe that large reserves of petroleum might exist beneath the surface of Mars. Their efforts are clearly aimed at drilling Mars for "useful resources." How will they get the oil back to earth? I don't know. This may seem farfetched but then again look who's president.
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188999 188999 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:50:02 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188899 188899 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:48:59 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188666 188666 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:30:38 -0400
Sorry to burst your bubble dude, but this is pure supply and demand - I read the reports that you refrenced. The problem with the reports is that they do not show proof of the allegations. Where are the numbers to show that this is caused by speculation? The report is just one persons opine on the market. The author of the above article provides does not provide evidence - he even dispels his own views by admitting in his article that the decline in the value of the dollar is a cause for the rise in price. When demand is greater than supply and imbalance is created and the price rises, the decline of the dollars true intrinsic value is the reason for the "high" price of oil. If you really want to blame someone for the cost of oil, blame the Fed. Each time the M3 changes (supply of $) it debases our currency, which increases the cost of goods and services. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188656 188656 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:08:19 -0400
Try to learn something about how futures work...scfranklin tried to tell you...but in your case, I guess cluelessness is genetic...]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188485 188485 jack]]> Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:29:17 -0400 > jack]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188419 188419 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:30:47 -0400
Follow the links in my other post if you want to learn what is going on.

Professor Michael Greenberger lays it all out. Greenberger used to work for the CFTC and he knows how and why the US public is being cheated.

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188408 188408 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:22:25 -0400
If you think that there is no speculation driving up the price of oil then read:

www.star-telegram.com/...

and

www.commerce.senate.go...

These two authors will explain how the public is being cheated by oil futures traders and speculators.

Also, to those of you who are thinking about trading in oil futures or buying oil stocks, reading the two articles I have posted will assist you in your decision making.

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188346 188346 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:28:31 -0400 ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188160 188160 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:14:04 -0400
Yes, index funds have created massive long positions, but who are these index funds? Most of the time they are pension funds (index funds by definition are one-sided, i.e. long-only) or other investment groups seeking a hedge against rising prices.

Who sold futures to the index funds? Other speculators. What most people don't understand is that there has been and always will be an imbalance of hedgers in the futures markets; remove the speculators and it will make the markets much more volatile. Why? Large physical players will become much more powerful and the ability to corner the oil market for a particular delivery month might become possible.

If a corner, or just the threat of corner occurred, then one would see oil prices that would be truly stratospheric (think $1,000/barrel or more - if you don't believe me look at electric power pricing - when only one side of the market wants to sell or buy, the floor or the sky is the limit).]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188127 188127 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:48:52 -0400 YG]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188126 188126 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:45:48 -0400
And you don't think the CIFs with a billion worth of contracts sin the last year or so, driven by the greedy fund mangers at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, MS and MF Global, with their "analyst reports" are not the reason for the high price of oil, and other commodities...well, dream on...
YG]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188086 188086 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:10:30 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188057 188057 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:01:26 -0400 www.bloomberg.com/apps...

"Hedge Funds Cut Oil Bets as Prices Rose, CFTC Probed

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge-fund managers and speculators reduced bets on higher oil prices by 80 percent since July as crude futures rose to records and U.S. regulators started investigating trading, government data show.

So-called speculative net long positions fell to 25,867 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week ended May 27 from a record 127,491 on July 31, according to a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission report on May 30."]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188013 188013 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:07:29 -0400 biz.yahoo.com/ap/08061...

"Bush to Congress: Embrace energy exploration now

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With gasoline topping $4 a gallon, President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, saying the United States needs to increase its energy production. Democrats quickly rejected the idea."]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-188000 188000 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:44:21 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187944 187944 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:26:38 -0400
Econometrics 2008

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187886 187886 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:03:10 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187806 187806 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:12:24 -0400
As much as Uncle Sam lies to us every month with the CPI numbers, the one thing both Paulson and Bodman have gotten correct is that the rise in oil price is due to lays of supply and demand, not speculators. The other factor is the plummeting value of the dollar.

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187782 187782 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:38:52 -0400
I say this as someone who works in the E&P business and would like to see ANWR and the continental shelf open to more E&P. But I think people need to get some perspective on just how little a difference ANWR would make. Maybe ANWR combined with bringing back the 55 mph speed limit combined with much stricter CAFE standards would make a significant difference. But we can't control how much oil is consumed by other countries, so I doubt if there is anything the U.S. alone can do to significantly change the price of oil. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187769 187769 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:27:39 -0400 If oil is so speculative as you say, and I believe you are right. What happens to the economy, let alone the price of crude if the whole thing tanks..
Joe

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187731 187731 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:36:56 -0400
A trillion dollars in new taxes a year. Chicken feed compared to Obama will do to taxes and this economy. If you like high oil and gas prices - you ain't seen nothing yet if he gets in and you increase the number of democrats in congress. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81823/comments?source=feed#comment-187701 187701 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:16:39 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-166370 166370 Mon, 12 May 2008 14:05:32 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-162434 162434 Tue, 06 May 2008 02:45:20 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-162241 162241 Mon, 05 May 2008 16:22:53 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-161727 161727 Sun, 04 May 2008 20:10:52 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-158725 158725 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:02:17 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801/comments?source=feed#comment-158089 158089 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:55:53 -0400