Ferdinand E. Banks

Oil Weak Relative to Stocks and Gold

I don't think that it's a good idea to tell the OPEC bosses that oil is 'weak'. They may take that as a challenge, and jack the oil price up by 20 or 30 dollars.

And Bernanke Didn't Think Unemployment Would Reach 10%

Shame on you, giving me -30 for calling Ronald Reagan stupid. What I thought was groovy about the guy was him telling a big audience how he was with the American army when they liberated some nazi prison camps. Of course he spent the entire war in Hollywood, but he thought that he was in Europe.

Don't Believe Long-Term Oil Forecasts

An interesting article, but why tell people to look at the work of the IEA. They don't know what the hell is going on. Last year their ignorant boss told me that the IEA doesn't forecast production - it only forecasts consumption.

Citigroup Already Being Broken Up (But Not Enough)

Speaking as a teacher of finance, and writer of a book on the subject, I agree that Glass-Steagall should be restored. But this urge to break up financial institutions for what appears to be nothing more than bloody mindedness is pure looney-tune.

Four Charts from BP's Statistical Review of World Energy

I'm curious. What are you trying to show with these charts? I will admit, however, that the BP Review of Energy is a valuable document, and everyone interested in energy should look at it.

U.S. Handling of Financial Crisis - A Less Optimistic View

So the American people are on to Obama, says this author. They see and understand the so-called weakness in his economics.

Well, they weren't on to George W. Bush when he told the lies that led to the problem in Iraq, and those lies were right out there in the open where they could be seen and examined in detail.

As for siding with Summers over Volckner, that's easy. Where economics is concerned, Summers is a genius, and Mr V. is an also ran.

And Bernanke Didn't Think Unemployment Would Reach 10%

Funny long_on_oil, but I make a point of telling my students that Reagan was the dumbest president in the history of the United States. He also ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands - or maybe millions of Afghans.

And author, read some economic history. There is no relation between the 'great' depression and what we have now. And do you know something, there never will be.

Three Ways to Trade the Black Stuff

Oil at $80/b IS expensive, but this does not mean that Mad Hedge is wrong. Don't do the math - do the economics.

Wall Street: Dumb as It Ever Was

A waste of time and criminal destruction, the author says. Sounds to me like the work of some half-educated academic morons in Sweden, not to mention.....

Senator Schumer Misses the Full Picture on A-Power's Joint Texas Wind Farm

I repeat:

THE COST AND PRICE OF ELECTRICITY IN SWEDEN IS AMONG THE LOWEST IN EUROPE, AND THE WORLD, WHILE IN THE PROMISED LAND OF WINDPOWER, DENMARK, THE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY IS AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD. And according to the calculations of a brilliant economics teacher- ME- Swedish taxpayers AS A GROUP have not paid a dollar in subsidies. That is all that amateur energy economists need to know about this issue.

Incidentally, the figures that I gave above are for capacity. For energy, nuclear supplies more than 50 percent. Jerrydyd - show how smart you are and tell us why.

I am going to attend a meeting/conference on nuclear energy monday. I want to guarantee that anyone who showcases any nonsense about wind and nuclear will not be very happy by the way I respond to it, because I take no prisoners on this subject. How I would love to hear from Jerrydd on that occasion.

Jeff Siegel, Denmark fills in the electricity gaps with power from Sweden and Norway. As for the capacity factor in that country, it is probably is about 22 percent - which is what it is in Germany, and why the Germans are going to eventually start building nuclear plants again.
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Is Crude Oil Headed Lower?

Very impressive article and comments. The kind of observations that should be read by the people in corner offices at the Energy Department.

Senator Schumer Misses the Full Picture on A-Power's Joint Texas Wind Farm

I am for SOME windpower, though definitely not as much as certain people. Here is the CORRECT argument.

1. Sweden has/had almost 50 percent nuclear and almost 50 percent hydro generating capacity. The electricity prices in this country are among the lowest in Europe - and would be the lowest if the morons hadn't closed two nuclear plants.

2. Denmark is the promised land of windpower, and has/had the highest electricity prices in Europe.

THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TELLS THE ENTIRE STORY!

About subsidies, if an intelligent person examined what nuclear did for Sweden, they would have to conclude that Swedish nuclear did not receive ANY susidies. Of course, intelligent people are few and far between these days, but that is another story.

Are Oil and Natural Gas Cheap or Expensive?

This is an interesting article, and the comments are even more interesting. I don't remember how many decades (or centuries) ago an American business executive in Vienna told me that I didn't have a clue about shale oil, but I listened to him and how I'm hip on that subject. It's possible - though not certain - that there is a bad misunderstanding about shale gas. As for why there might be a misunderstanding, well, you know that as well as I do. MONEY. I hope though that the US has the gas people keep talking about, because together with the coal in that country, the US would be sitting pretty where resources are concerned - which means that in the long run most of the rest of the world COULD be better off. As the author said, large amounts of fossil fuels are essential - at least for the near future.

Petroleum Inventories: Everything Was Drawn Down

This author has something important to say, but although I like to claim that I know everything worth knowing about oil markets, I can't figure it out. For example, his description of the behaviour of swap dealers might sound good to some observers, but definitely not to my good self.

Breaking Up the Banks: How Likely Is Legislation?

Breaking up banks is part of some crank conversation in a London wine bar. What gives it so much importance in this forum.