Jack B.

What’s the Right Price for Oil?

Very good comments.. Ala -60 minutes and the fromer Enron now Morgan Stanley crooks...


On Feb 11 05:57 PM ricardomarcos wrote:

> what isn't factored in here is that even those prices last year weren't
> fuelled 100% by demand. There was a big inflow of cash from into
> the commodities markets as the financial sector, flush with cash
> from pyramiding off of mortgages with derivatives, sought to stash
> their money in "sure" commodities futures. All those investors, like
> all others, snowballed to create the astronomical prices of last
> year. So we did have a bubble. Now of course we're running low on
> oil. Of course demand will decline however long this depression plays
> out. And of course the interplay of going green and the normal growth
> in demand for oil will make things interesting. But really, my guess
> is, just with last year's figures, oil should've been at 70-80, without
> the speculators. That, after all is the likely price when substitution
> with other energy products kicks in.

Bankruptcy Could Reduce GM's Debt by 65%

John D.

Very well said. To this day no one can tell us where the Billions went that were given to the banks. Watch out all the laid off people are getting hungary while we had 18 billion dollors to the Morgan Stanley crooks


On Feb 10 09:13 AM John D wrote:

> Shadrach .. I'm pretty sure that it is not so much an attack on those
> more fortunate as it is the fact that the politicians (Bush Admin)
> threw $$$Billions to Wall St. with no song and dance or accountability
> and those of us that still have to work (I work in the auto business)
> have to crawl to Washington to BORROW money to keep us in business
> - You can bet that if the politicians had THEIR MONEY tied up in
> the auto sector and not on Wall St the tables would have been turned
> 180 degrees - they would have thrown the money to GM Ford & Chrysler
> and Wall St would have been doing the crawl. The 1st half of TARP
> was irresponsible to say the least and criminal to say the most.
> It looks like the new administration will not be throwing but actually
> delegating and making the financials ACCOUNTABLE this time.
>
>

Detroit's Biggest Failure: Losing the Youth Market

Scion,Scion and Scion. Look at Scion's website and you will see how it appeals to youngsters. Even has a great "First Time buyer" program. When has anyone heard of that with GMAC????? Gmac is useless and has caused GM alot of Woe....With no leaseing (how stupid) Gm is losing all of its cadillac customers to the highline imports and Ford.

Remember this, if you are not selling or leasing any cars, you will go out of business.......

When is the last time you saw GM make something that appeals to the young people??? GM has lost 3 generations while still worrying about the 80 year old people with Buick????

Conflict of Interest: Congressional Stakes in the Big Three

Exactly right Jack. I was thinking the same thing also Corker


On Dec 08 10:20 AM Jack Sprat wrote:

> Interesting article. What might be even more interesting is the data
> on foreign auto stock holdings by members of Congress. Start with
> Shelby from Alabama using alphabetical ordering.

GM: More Bailout-Worthy than Citigroup

Oh My Goodness!! If they DID NOT need it then why take it and why not give it all back immediately. Oh, I forgot, they are using taxpayer's money to buy little banks in Foreign Countries

Interesting comments about GM, If their vehicles cost to much,how were they able to sell 9.7 million units in 2007( more then Toyota and Honda combined). You must be another one of cronies that is Bought out by Big Oil. At $1.70 a gallon, how many people are going to buy little Prius hybrids now??? Ill answer that, now that BIG OIL broke the back of this country at $5.00 a gallon gas (monopoly,price-fixing < that's a real free market)(Last time I checked Monopoly's and Price -Fixing were illegal) No one will buy any car because we will all be laid off. Wonderful Job Big Oil and all you crooked politicians.

Why are the Big -Three automakers so afraid to expose the Big Oil folly's???


On Dec 05 03:44 PM User 313790 wrote:

> Having the ability to get inside info on Citi, I can tell you that
> they did not need the bailout. They accepted it to stabalize the
> mass frenzy of investors driving down the stock. With regards to
> automakers they have lobbied congress away from tougher gas standards
> and have actually killed many of the proposals to switch their business
> models. As more and more dollars got built into the price of a car
> via unions what do you think the American people chose to do? Although
> fear and uncertainty is currently present in todays markets, the
> media continues to drive it home daily. This constant reminder that
> our indicators are "off" pushes people into panic mode. I am a firm
> believer in the free market system and I understand that every 7-10
> years something in our system needs to correct itself. It has to
> fail in order to get better. Congress this time around, pushed hard
> to lower lending criteria and "we" responded, even if we were not
> able to afford it. Personally, when I invest my money, I read everything.
> Maybe that is a lesson that should be learned by the consumer who
> rode the false waves of funny money. I did learn that oversight
> to some extent needs to be present. Something that was lacking in
> this mess, but something that should be learned next time around.
> To close, I believe that no bailout of anything should ever be inserted
> into a free market supply/demand model. You taint the very thing
> that creates the wealth in this country

GM: More Bailout-Worthy than Citigroup

Beatdown,
You are so right... Shelby has been bought out like all of the Free Market Republicans....( to think I was a die hard republican for so many years) No longer. I do not like traitors...The pompous Republican's sold us down the river, Shelby,Corker(another idiot) etc..... Keep it up idiots,You sold out to Big Oil,The Japanese and the Germans. How much Tax credit did you offer any of the big three to build plants in Alabama Shelby????? None? That's what I thought.

Also what are all you prima donna Republicans going to do when all of the new Gm workers are making $22 an hour compared to Toyota's $38.00. Will you find a way to call that unfair competition???

By the way the $22 an hour was already in place 2 years ago in agreement with the Uaw for all new hires. So when all of the old gm people retire, The foreign Auto Makers will have a Much higher labor cost then GM. And I suppose Shelby will find a way to Toyota some more tax credits.....

On Dec 05 05:47 PM Beatdown wrote:

> The big three just don't happen to be Paulson,Franks, or Bush's buddies.
> If they were they'd be handed 1 trillion in cash and 7.4 trillion
> in loan guarentees. Then they wouldn't have to fly to Washington
> to talk to congress.They would just have to make a phone call. The
> next day the money would be direct deposited in their bank. Oh, and
> if they were an oil company Bush would give them 15 billion while
> they made record profits. Let the big three die and save the paper
> pushing jobs. This country was made great because we rebuilt the
> earth by manufacturing everything here after the World wars. This
> country is devastated because people forgot that and all our currency
> is shipped overseas. The reason the asian and South American econnomies
> have boomed is because congress is owned by their campaighn money.
> Senater Shelby is a servant to his Japaneese masters. The banking
> bailout and benevolent transplant man can't cough up money for Americans.
> This is because he is owned by unamerican interests. Wake up America,
> trickled on economics only works for the top 1%. Rebuild the middle
> class by making congress responsible to our own American interests.
> I feel bad for all our forefathers who fought for the world, only
> to have Washington give the fruits of their patriotism to foreighn
> interests.

GM: More Bailout-Worthy than Citigroup

REALLY???? Then why are they(citibank) so Afraid to disclose where the 300 billion went?? And if they are so healthy, Why did they need $300 Billion to begin with??? Interesting the auto makers go through hell and a bunch of BS to try and get 1/10 of what Citibank got. When does congress grill them??? I can hardly wait.

By the way, Thank you Martin for a good article "exposing" the bank nonsense.... I agree, banks are plentiful, automakers are not....

On Dec 05 05:47 PM GoBlue wrote:

> You've really lost your mind. Citi is healthy, was healthy, and
> you're assuming that all of the $300 billion (asset backed) is worth
> exactly zero. Even Lehman and Wamu debt is worth less more than
> that. I bet the taxpayer doesn't loose a nickel on citi when the
> economy picks up.

The Truth About Bailouts

No, actually, I have mine and I do not want anything from the taxpayers. I want to know why AIG gets $120 Billion in less then 2 months. And we have a Hornets nest when it comes to the American Auto makers.

Also maybe someone can explain to me how $5.00 a gallon gas was NOT contrived. I have been a conservative free market person all of my life until now. Big Oil manipulating the market through Monopoly and Price fixing is not a free market. Aig getting getting billions to hold weekend parties isn't a Free Market. I do not advocate a revolution, I saw enough damage in Viet Nam. However, I do feel even in a free market, Govt has a resposibility to make sure that Price fixing and Monopoly does not occur. They have obviously failed at that..

Again I will state that I find it ironic that we will spend billions on AIG and Citibank and etc. The list goes on. But we refuse to LEND to the american auto makers.......How ironic, what does that look like to you???

I guess you are not concerned about all of the TAXPAYERS money that has gone to AIG???


On Nov 23 12:25 PM Ray Lopez wrote:

> Oh I get it. You didn't get yours, and you want the taxpayers to
> give it to you.
>
> We'll see about the revolution you ask for. Don't be surprised if
> you end up in jail.
>
> RL

The Truth About Bailouts

Very good Mr. Schiff, I agree this may be the only way, however by throwing Billions at Wall Street and continuning to throw billions at wall street, the stage is set between Blue Collar workers (have nots) and the greedy,very well paid, Big Bonus White Collars.

To suggest that the autoworkers give-up their pensions, Medical and other benefits while AIG has big parties and continues to recieve $120 Billion for Bonuses , is asking for this country to have a Major revolution. This is a Classic take from the Middle-class and poor and reward the Filthly rich aka AIG. It is funny how I read all the controversy on Autoworkers, But I have a ard time finging anything on Big Oil and AIG. Who died and Made AIG god???? Oh and by the way, the Claimed $80.. an hour for Auto workes Pals in comparision to the $500 an hour the average AIG worker makes. What are they going to give up??.

I am all for pitching in, but how about doing it fairly instead of rewarding the AIG's and the stupid banks and even dumber Wall street. What are they sacrificing???

I am a Combat Vietnam Veteran and I have sacrificed for this country and will do it again, but dont expect the Auto wokers to give up everything while Wall Street and AIG continues to receive Billions and Huge Bonuses and BIg parties.(do you think we are that stupid??)

Remember this too, there are a hell of a lot more Auto workers then there are Selfish, Greedy, Self-Centered AIG and Wall Street workers and personaly, I have never wished anyone harm, but now that the lines have been drawn, I hope Wall Street and the rotten spoiled brats at AIG eat it. All of you have mistakenly underestimated the strength of Blue collar workers. So go ahead and take away our pensions and Medical while you have your big parties and see what happens.....General Motors did not cause $5.00 a gallon gas (you crooks did). They also did not cause the collapse of AIG(More Crooks).

Oh I get it, punish me and the auto workers for all of the unpunished WHite Collar CRIME at AIG.... That Makes sense. NOT

Washington's Foot Dragging on Automaker Bailout Disappoints Markets

Nice article Chris!!!

How come I do not see all of this outrage towards AIG?????? I am amazed how much people HATE GM, but they give the store away to AIG???? Someone help me and explain why AIG automaticaly gets $140 BIllion???? Yet GM gets $000.00? I dont get it. How come we did not get all of the Grandstanding when AIG held 3 Big parties and burned through $80 billion in less then a month?? and asked for another $40 billion and got it with no fan fare??? Hmm Barnery Frank is right, we will take care of white collar workers but we want Blue collar workers to go down the drain?? The Democrats and the Republicans are discusting.. And they better watch very carefully what is happening. When people get hungry(all of the laid-off blue collar workers) they do funny things!! Good luck trying to contain them when they really get hungy and angy and the government keeps all the AIG's of the world in wealth.... As a Combat Vietnam Veteran,(and there are a lot of combat vets in this country watching all of this) I feel sorry that the 3 Million Auto industry people are going to ruin. Nice Job US Government. Gm did not cause the $5.00 a gallon gas, nor did Gm cause this so called Banking crisis.

So lets take out all of our anger on the American Auto companies.. instead of AIG and George Bush.. Makes sense to me- NOT!!!!!

How much money will AIG keep burning

Drop in Gas Price = $300B Savings

UncleFrank,

You are so correct. I am suprised that the public is not outraged about these Ilegal Big Oil Companies tactics. I am sure when a fly sneezes at one of their refinery's we will all of the sudden go back up to $3.80 a gallon within a week. They are already plotting on this move. Afterall they have been raping us since 1974 and they are the real cause of this massive depression. I hope that I am wrong,but I dont think so......


On Nov 22 08:13 AM UncleFrank wrote:

> Mark,
>
> How can this be? Don't the evil oil companies conspire to keep prices
> high? Could it be that once again our friends in Congress lied to
> us about supposed price gouging? Tell me it isn't true, tell me that
> free markets don't really work.
>
> Your pal, Uncle Frank

Fall in Gas Prices and Less Driving Equals $315B Savings

John,

You are correct, the $5.00 a gallon caused every one to lose their jobs thanks to Big Oil and I am not sure even a $1.00 a gallon would bring all of the jobs lost back. History will show that BIG Oil is the United States worst enemy. Now that a barrel of Oil is down, they will raise gas prices using their old tried and true methods, A fly sneezed in a refinery and the refinery was down for 2 minutes(causing gas to go up 51 cents). ETC. Since 1974 Big oil has been behind every Recession. You watch them gas will not be low for long. It is a price-fixing Monopoly that has broken all free market principles since 1974. And since they own every Govt official, I am sure we will have hi priced gas again,recession or not.


On Nov 21 08:36 AM john s. gordon wrote:

> well when people no longer drive to work because no jobs exist you
> might expect vehicle miles per month to drop off a wee but.

Real Price of Gas Approaches a Historic Record-Low

Mark,

I agree with cjct, Whereis this HUGE shortage of OIl?????

Good article. It almost makes you wonder if the $5.00 a gallon was all contrived??? Or will the Big Oil companies wait until we (the USA) start to recover and then come up with all kinds of reasons that will cause gas to go up to $8.00 a gallon. Its no surprise to me that Exxon-Mobil had a $16 Billion NET profit for a Quarter??? Amazing! General Motors should have been Exon and then they would not worry about cash.

As a Side note, I sell Trucks and SUV's and sales are picking up(evan without GMAC financing) again now that gas fallen so fast in the last 2 weeks. The big question becomes, how well will all the economical cars continue to sell??? I predict that Toyota will dust off their Tundra's and Nissan their Titans and Infinity will sell their QX 56's again( all of which get worse Mileage then the GM counterparts.) Very strange market that is so dependent on what The Big Oil companies decide to sell their Gas for.

For those of you that do not know, Gm has a Yukon Hybrid that gets 21 miles to the gallon city driving. That beats alot of Honda's,Toyota and Nissan's economy cars. Gm also has 30 count then 30 vehicles that get over 30 miles to the gallon on the hwy. Look at JD power and you will see their quality way up in the top ten. Also who else has a 5 year 100,000 0 deduct powertrain warranty which is fully transferable to any subsequent owner. Gm did not offer this because they thought that they would lose money on it. They did it becauseTheir engines and Tranny's and Rear Ends are the best in the business.....And believe it or not, Not all families in the US want to drive a Prius.. They need room...

Also NOTE THIS: Every recession since 1974 has started when we had either a shortage of gasoline or we had a huge runup in pricing because a bug sneezed at a refinery. All contrived just like Enron. I am so suprised that no one wants to take on the OIL companies for all the Havoc that they have caused with their Enron tactics. Instead we fight about how lousy GM is an how their workers make $72.00 an hour(also wrong). Once we found out about Enron and relized that we had plenty of electricity, The rolling blackouts stopped. Remember how everyones electricity bill tripled because of this illegal activity???
I am afraid that because all the Govt has been bought out by the Oil companies, We will always be at their mercy and will contiue to have recessions based on their Whims. However once we break loose from gasoline, They will deservedly go under. I too am a free Market place advocate, but not when some companies do illegal things that cause other companies to go under....and Slam the country into MAJOR Depression and everyone loses their jobs because Exxon got greedy???

At $150 a barrel all of the "experts" stated we were headed to $300 a barrel. What happened all of you "experts"??? Where are you now to admit that you were so wrong!!! And for those of you that believe that everyone has stopped driving, BS, in California the freeways are still packed........ Just some thoughts on our Fantastic ,Dangerous Oil companies. Why do we not have them Pay for all of the unemployment that they have caused??? And all of the innocent companies that they have put out of business because of their GREED.. Sickening....Remember this :all of you "Conservative Republicans"(of which I used to be)Last time I checked Monopolies and Price fixing are illegal at the Federal Level, So how do the oil companies go unchecked???? This is not a "free Market" of supply and demand,But a huge conspiracy like Enron... Wake up people!! Our worst enemy is our own Oil companies. They have screwed us since 1974 and have gotten away with it. It may be too late..

A GM Collapse Would Signal Hope for Robin Hood

All of you GM bashers and Toyota Lovers read this. This is where all of you people are headed. $75.00 an hour??? Not hardly. Why dont you peopel get your facts straight. Uaw workers pay $2400 a year for their Medical. How much do you jerks pay??? Do any of you have a desire to work n an Assy line??? I doubt you would last more then 2 days.

OT: The Darker Side of Toyota: Human Trafficing
User Forum Topic
Submitted by fat_lazy_union_... on June 20, 2008 - 7:07am
Disturbing if true...Well, someone's got to build all those green Priuses right?

ucarmagazine.com/toyot......

Today the National Labor Committee (NLC) is releasing a 65-page report, “The Toyota You Don’t Know” documenting serious human rights violations by the Toyota Motor Company, which will disturb most Americans.

“Celebrities like Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pit, Bill Maher and others have led the way in turning Toyota’s Prius into a symbol of concern for our environment,” said Charles Kernaghan, director of the NLC, “We hope that these same celebrities will now also challenge Toyota to improve its respect for human and worker rights. As a start, Toyota should cut its ties to the Burmese dictators and end the exploitation of foreign guest workers trafficked to Japan.”

* Toyota linked to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse: Toyota’s much admired “Just in Time” auto parts supply chain is riddled with sweatshop abuse, including the trafficking of foreign guest workers, mostly from China and Vietnam to Japan, who are stripped of their passports and often forced to work–including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota–16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage. Guest workers who complain about abusive conditions are deported.

* Prius made by low-wage temps: Fully one-third–10,000–of all Toyota assembly line workers in Japan are low-wage temps who have few rights and earn less than 60% of what full time workers do.

* Unpaid overtime and “overworked” to death: Mr. Kenichi Uchino was just 30 years old when he died of overwork on an assembly line at Toyota’s Prius plant, leaving behind his young wife and two children. Mr. Uchino routinely worked 13 to 14 hours a day, putting in 106 1/2 to 155 hours of overtime–depending on whether work taken home was counted–in the 30 days leading up to his death. Toyota claimed that he had only worked 45 hours of overtime and that the other 61 1/2 to 110 hours were “voluntary” and unpaid. His wife had to go to court — which ruled that Mr. Uchino was overworked to death — to win a pension for their children.

* Ties to Burmese dictators: Toyota, through the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, which is part of the Toyota Group of Companies, is involved in several joint business ventures with the ruthless military regime in Burma. The dictators use these revenues to repress and torture the people of Burma.

* Toyota and the race to the bottom: Toyota is imposing its two-tier, low wage model at its non-union plants in the south of the United States, which will result in wages and benefits being slashed across the entire auto industry.

The National Labor Committee recently documented how the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement descended into human trafficking with tens of thousands of foreign guest workers held under conditions of involuntary servitude.

GM Job Loss: Bogus Economics

This is interesting: (Borrowed from another blog). This is why GM and ther rest of the economy wont ever have a chance until we put BIG OIL to bed for good. CROOKS,they should be dealt with....

Crude oil is down more than 50% from its high of $147 a barrel… But oil-gas station prices are not down by 50%? Moreover, there were no corresponding increases or decreases in supply-demand in 2007-2008! Peak oil has been predicted for 150 years. It has never happened, and it will stay this way. It is market manipulation or it is simply an irrational speculative mania.

The greedy oil price hikers, believers, analysts and cheerleaders were led by top ten global oil companies who continue to loot consumers, fuel inflation and the recessionary credit crunch. This is nothing less than ENRON-like collusion on a global scale.

Read how, for example, power cuts make ENRON FixyaExperts.wordpress... and FixyaExperts.blogspot....