Now let me get this right: we are here talking about the cost of a gal. of gas (which is not out of line) while we are burning about $375 million a day for our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former appears to a clever diversion by whoever wants to keep the latter going.

Totally concur. And that has about as much chance of happening as requiring CDL's for women who want to drive SUV's.

Is there a single thread you've chimed in on without mentioning Iraq?

Bush hates cheap gas!

Tom

C'mon Super...bring your Stick and $1K,,,I'll bring Matt and his stick (s). You name the place and table. May I suggest a 9' gold crown table in Portland? That would be about half way for both of us. Halls? "Classic east": on the east side of Portland, OR.."Rilato's"...an upscale bar/nightclub where the gold crown tables are secondary...your call. If you like playing bar boxes? Fine...just name the place & time...hell, for a grand? Seattle...we'll come to you!

(edit) What's this have to do with the price of gas? About as much as your original post...:D

For those that missed the earlier thread:

In 2000 the entire ‘futures market’ in oil was about 9 Billion dollars. In 2007 that market had grown to 250 Billion! That figure amounts to several months of oil demand for the entire world!

The war in Iraq, the declining dollar, recession in the USA, the housing crisis; there can be many factors that can drive money towards other forms of security for one’s money (gold, art, foreign markets, etc.) but it certainly seems that oil has now become a big part of the speculators portfolio."
____________________________________________

This is a scenario that actually mirrors the 'housing bubble' closely.

When you have speculators pouring this type of money into contacts that they never intend to take delivery on (but only sell to the next greater fool) you have a pyramid that WILL ...eventually ...collapse!

Cry all you want about it being Bush's fault (boring), but even OPEC members have stated that oil could/should be about $50 or less per bbl. And by the way ...they still make loads of money at that lower price.

But hey ...do you think they care that it continues to rise? $$$cha-ching!

Investment Tip: If you DON'T have oil, utility (necessary consumables) stocks in your portfolio ...you are already a fool.:)

I’m surprised no one has blamed Bush for the gallon milk prices! I have seen $4 – some say $5 soon.

Actually, the rise in milk prices can be somewhat attributed to Bush's support for ethanol, since that has made the price of corn (which goes into livestock feed) skyrocket. Of course, Bush would be maligned endlessly, were he against the whole ethanol scam too. But I think ethanol has had about the same impact on food price inflation as have higher oil prices.

Thank you. Oil is indeed in a speculative bubble. And the crash will be just as brutal is it was in stocks after the dot-com crash and as it will be in housing. I started a thread a few years ago asking what the next bubble after real estate would be. My theory is that there is a lot of baby-boomer money out there constantly chasing the next big thing--they bid up the price of assets to ridiculous levels, they the bubble pops and they move on to the next big thing...

I also started a thread a week or so ago asking if traders were sheep or on the take. I was trying to vet the idea that we are in another speculative bubble with oil. I was hoping to get responses that disproved the theory I'd proposed with proof of speculation. (Well, that might have proved the sheep theory. ;))

I actually agree that it's not totally fair to blame all economic woes on whoever might be the president druing that time.

But many of the folks who say Bush has little to do with our current economic mess will in the next breath blame everything that happened from 1977 to 1982 on Jimmy Carter. Go figure.

The inflation you are seeing is CAUSED by this rise in gas prices. Inflation does not excuse this price increase. Rather, the price increase is defining the inflation rate. The impact is everywhere. At the grocery store, for instance.

Exactly. Carter was victimized by OPEC. America was victimized by Dubya.

My vote for most clueless post of 2008.

I'm guessing you also voted for Dubya. At least you are consistent.

A decade before you were born, I was paying thirty cents per gallon for gas. Then the OPEC matter happened. We all watched gas prices climb past $1.00 per gallon. And the impact was equally foreseen. Runaway inflation. Same as now, except for the cause.

Paul. I rarely play these days, but happened to get a beer at a pub yesterday and racked 'em for just myself. Sure, I missed a few shots. But I tried to shoot at only combination and bank shots. I didn't miss any banks. Missed a couple of three-ball combos. And a fistful of non-bank, non-combo shots. Go figure.

Happened onto this. Gasoline is certainly elevated after adjusting for inflation.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1205250418.gif

That looks a lot like a long-term downward trend (in real dollars) with some price spikes--each one being progressively LESS SEVERE than the last.

And the brain of steel has been victimized by liberalism!:eek::eek::eek:

The Dems are not in control, as they do not posess an overwhelming majority, and the president has Veto power, which he is using to the max. They did however shake up the White House enough to come up with some new ideas, and get rid of some dead wood. Still the presidents ball.

I'm waiting for all Republicans to explain why oil is $108. per barrel. C'mon, guys, I know you can do it. LOL.