AlexS

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173 Comments

    • Fri Jun 6th 12:14 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Trichet, ECB Missing the Point with Crude
      I basically agree with this. I think we will find that monetary policy is not a good tool vs commodity inflation. Commodity inflation is largely a supply-demand effect caused by the rapid rise of China and India. Why do European central bankers think high European interest rates will stifle the Chinese economy? If oil prices are causing problems for the economy, better to cut taxes. Let the nuclear industry build out (yes, Senator Reid, even in the U.S.).
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    • Fri Jun 6th 11:37 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Options Trader: Friday Outlook
      I went to a bioenergy conference a few years ago. The "alternative energy" research went as follows: University of State A grew some soybeans and made biodiesel. University of State B grew some pinto beans and made biodiesel. University of State C grew some mustard seed and made biodiesel. University of State D grew some rapeseed and made biodiesel.

      Just wanted to show you what "alternative energy" research means in the real world.
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    • Fri Jun 6th 10:09 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Ethanol Producers in Trouble as Corn Sets New Record
      Sorry, we can't have bad weather. The Congress has decreed that that corn must go into making ethanol, and how can we make ethanol if we don't have corn? Congress commands it to stop raining immediately, under penalty of law.
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    • Fri Jun 6th 10:06 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Options Trader: Friday Outlook
      No doubt about it, we need a tax cut. Bernanke's been trying to keep the economy afloat by himself, as the Congress continues to be AWOL. Instead the talk in Congress and the likely next President is about tax hikes. No wonder employment is hitting the skids.
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    • Fri Jun 6th 09:53 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Exxon's Hoard
      One difference is that for the state owned companies, their oil will always be their oil. For independents like Exxon Mobil, they need to get the oil out or they will lose their lease and someone else will. In that sense the states and the independents are opposites. The problem the independents are having is access, exemplified by the Saudis' decision to keep their oil in the ground. As for the carbon tax, it's not clear to me how a tax somehow provides all of us with an upside. It looks to me that it provides all of us with a tax. It will be an upside to the politicians and the ones on whom they bestow their political favors.
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    • Tue Jun 3rd 10:43 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Petrobras: Extremely Overvalued
      I agree there's a pile-on effect with Petrobras. Put simply, they are the only publicly available company with substantially preferred access to potentially lucrative oil and gas, in a relatively stable political situation. Most of the state oil companies do not take outside investments. The ones that do are in declining areas (like Norway). Gazprom has a lot of assets clearly but the rules in Russia have been subject to change at a moment's notice. U.S. companies are shut out of much of this, including amazingly the potential of ANWR and U.S. OCS. It may not be a good idea to put a lot in Petrobras. But a little is a good hedge, I think. They are making good finds and are working in lesser explored and potentially very lucrative areas. It's definitely become a power in an oil world of otherwise limited access.
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    • Tue May 27th 18:13 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Solving the Energy Problem Without Nuclear
      Must be nice to live peacefully up in the mountains. Just to write and think and give presentations. All you have to do is find rich people and big corporations to keep shoveling money at you. They, of course have people like me to man the trenches, so that Amory can go on with his rarefied existence. Please tell me how you install enough solar trackers to power a city of 4 million people. How big an area do you need? You'll have to start thinking beyond your updated Walden Pond.
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    • Tue May 27th 11:27 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      When Will Oil Stop Its Rapid Ascent?
      I agree with Brian. The last time oil prices had a sustained downward push was when Reagan decontrolled prices, letting supply loose. Congress doesn't have price controls on crude, but their holding up on exploration in the U.S. has the same effect. As long as the Dems are in charge, the price will remain high and will probably go up. If Obama gets it, look for a sustained rise from here, unless of course he plunges the world into another depression, which is very possible.
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    • Mon May 12th 00:38 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      An Energy Policy That Makes Sense, Revisited
      cruiser9805, perhaps you're aware that there are limits to the amount of DDGS that can be used in the diet of cattle. Perhaps you're aware too that DDGS is not well utilized in chickens and hogs. Pilgrim's Pride recently shut down a major chicken processing facility. It was commented that chicken producers are losing money on every chicken they grow. And have you seen the price of eggs lately? Eggs and chicken are, of course, low cost sources of protein to the consumer. Unfortunately chickens need corn, not DDGS. Corn should go to animals. Energy should come from inedibles.
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    • Sat May 10th 18:33 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Should We Force a Housing Bottom?
      zenalgorithm: "There needs to be a massive shake-up in wealth."

      OK, zenalgorithm. Hand over your wealth.
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    • Wed May 7th 10:41 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The WSJ Is Wrong on the Housing Crisis
      A decade and a half is a long time. Houses get built and houses get old. They fall apart and people move up to new houses. Forecasters say "this time it's different" and it usually doesn't turn out to be. As for the Wall St. Journal editorial page, a lot of liberals complain that it's an editorial page that isn't politically liberal (the NERVE!!). Come on people. Can't you at least stand one regular paper that doesn't have the editorial views of the New York Times, L.A.Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, etc. etc.? Are you so afraid of different ideas that you can't stand to see them in print?
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    • Wed Apr 30th 17:01 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Gas Tax Holiday Is Populist, But Pointless
      This article quotes a $3 billion shortfall in the highway fund but a search on the web reveals that the trust fund actually has a surplus of $20 billion. The politicians have historically been reluctant to spend any surplus because it hurts the deficit and roads have relatively little political stroke ("highways don't vote" as they say). So this could be done with no cost to jobs and we'd still have a surplus. I'm not sure it's a great idea, but it's not an awful idea as is suggested in this article. Chalk it up to a little more voter pandering. We've just had $150 billion in voter pandering under the heading of "stimulus package".
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    • Mon Apr 28th 16:23 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      California's Fuel-Efficiency Battle and Peak Oil
      Fitz, as you say, nothing I say will change your opinion. So I'll just get back to work.
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    • Mon Apr 28th 14:45 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      California's Fuel-Efficiency Battle and Peak Oil
      Bellard, your article has some good points. I would take a few exceptions. First, a lot of oil is produced on private lands. What has happened in the fairly recent past is that the Feds have identified potentially productive land and then basically seized it, and then set out to benefit from the fees or stop development altogether. I would say ANWR is an example. In that case it takes some gall to accuse companies of shortchanging the entity who seized the land. Second, if carbon dioxide is taxed as a pollutant, does that mean that everyone who breathes will be taxed as a polluter? How about all the natural sources of CO2? It seems a politicians tax heaven. Third, I don't look at companies as polluters when they produce energy. People are polluters when they consumer energy. However, I know Washington prefers to tax people through companies rather than directly, when they can.

      Fitz, you really do Bush bash too much. As an example, you take Bush to task over the Gulf of Mexico contracts but as we all know those contracts were negotiated (and the escalation clauses left out) during the Clinton administration. Are you blaming Bush for Clinton's shortcomings too?
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    • Sun Apr 27th 22:18 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      California's Fuel-Efficiency Battle and Peak Oil
      Energy has been brought to us by energy companies not by energy policy. A good part of energy policy lately has been to slow or stop the energy companies from doing what they do best and to attempt to control the energy markets. Trying to control what someone else produces is not a legitimate energy policy. Nor is blaming the energy companies, nor holding countless hearings, a legitimate activity. If politicians want to be movie stars they should resign and go to Hollywood with the rest of the crowd.
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