Ferdinand E. Banks

U.S. Market: So Much Stupidity in Such Little Time

Americans are good enough. They were good enough to join with the Soviets to win WW2, and that should be good enough for anybody. But they became careless, by which I mean putting people like Reagan, Clinton and George W. in position to run the country. And incidentally, this business of allowing teachers to retire with 100% of their salary is wonderful, assuming that those teachers deliver while in front of their classes, and if they can deliver then the big boss sees to it that any 'obstacles' that keep them from delivering are removed.

Watch for Yourself: 60 Minutes Oil Story Was Spot On

It was supply and demand, Allan. Demand was running away from supply - which in a flow and stock sense always caught up to maintain the 'equilibrium' And then, as you said, demand destruction started, It started and when the bad news in the macroeconomic and financial markets reached the TV audience it accelerated.

Speculators influencing spot prices without taking delivery. That's easy, Gary:: speculators influence expectations. But like you I doubt whether it was a particularly big deal. And certainly the point that in the futures market the volume of sells is equal to the volume of buys needs to be appreciated, which isn't always the case.