Gasoline prices - gold as a hedge
 

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On 2 Aug 2006 06:11:49 -0700, "basskisser" wrote:


Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
Slow steady wins the race.

I don't think John Force would buy into that.

John Force is an idiot.

And drag racing sucks - unless it's on the street and it's a Mustang
or some crappy rice burner.

That's when the 'Vette teaches 'em a lesson. :)

John Force is a self made multi millionaire. He started with nothing,
made a fortune. Drag racing is one of the most technologically advanced
forms of piston engine racing there is. John Force probably started
with much less than you, and built a multi million dollar conglomerate.
Have you?

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

JohnH wrote:


It's my experience that old folks and puppies or kittens get along great
together. I think it does the elderly a lot of good. What kind of pup did
you get?

Glad to hear she's doing well. Here in DC we're going thru a heat wave with
temps at 100 and high humidity. Golf this AM was fun, but I'll bet I
sweated three gallons.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

English Springer Spaniel
Our guy (Bronson) was the only liver & white in the litter.
He's the one with half a moustache..
http://goldspring_kennels.tripod.com/
note: scroll down to 'Nursery 2006' His picture is 2nd below the
videos list.

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:05:41 GMT, Don White wrote:

JohnH wrote:


It's my experience that old folks and puppies or kittens get along great
together. I think it does the elderly a lot of good. What kind of pup did
you get?

Glad to hear she's doing well. Here in DC we're going thru a heat wave with
temps at 100 and high humidity. Golf this AM was fun, but I'll bet I
sweated three gallons.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

English Springer Spaniel
Our guy (Bronson) was the only liver & white in the litter.
He's the one with half a moustache..
http://goldspring_kennels.tripod.com/
note: scroll down to 'Nursery 2006' His picture is 2nd below the
videos list.

Cute pup!
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
om...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@4ax .com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS, but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators, who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.: handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

John, if you raise them yourself, they're cheap!
And usually better.


JohnH wrote:
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
om...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@4ax .com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS, but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators, who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.: handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
. ..
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
m...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:2glvc2d2vft74nhu3hlfgero9bpfnp59v8@4ax. com...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@4a x.com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the
world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from
there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS,
but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that
doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who
live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one
day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding
up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in
the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators, who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this
would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain
stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a
resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.: handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has
been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER
THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

How about until they get tomatoes that taste like tomatoes?

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

On 2 Aug 2006 14:44:19 -0700, "Tim" wrote:

John, if you raise them yourself, they're cheap!
And usually better.




Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--

I don't have a spot in my yard, except by the front sidewalk, that gets
enough sun for tomatos. I've tried, believe me. If my neighbor would cut
down about two big oaks, I'd have the sun I need then.

I'll get them at the farmers market on Saturday. They're about $1 a pound
there, and the tomatoes don't come from Argentina or some damn place.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:39:40 GMT, "Calif Bill"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
om...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:2glvc2d2vft74nhu3hlfgero9bpfnp59v8@4ax .com...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@4 ax.com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the
world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from
there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS,
but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that
doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who
live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one
day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding
up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in
the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators, who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this
would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain
stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a
resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.: handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has
been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER
THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

How about until they get tomatoes that taste like tomatoes?


That would be good too. At $3 a pound, you'd think the damn things would
have some flavor.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:39:40 GMT, "Calif Bill"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
. ..
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
m...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:bt01d2hb07o4lfj077tftni3ahccqovnh6@4ax. com...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:2glvc2d2vft74nhu3hlfgero9bpfnp59v8@4a x.com...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@ 4ax.com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the
world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is
the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the
oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh
huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from
there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS,
but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that
doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who
live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one
day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding
up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and
should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors
to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in
the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators,
who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this
would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in
that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about
the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register
at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the
civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost
here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain
stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead
and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a
resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.:
handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has
been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many
commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER
THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

How about until they get tomatoes that taste like tomatoes?


That would be good too. At $3 a pound, you'd think the damn things would
have some flavor.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

We buy ours at the local farmer stands during the season. Cheap and
delicious!

Gasoline prices - another record high/ supply and demand
 

AH, "hothouse" tomatos.

There's nothing like 'em (thats not a compliment, either)


JohnH wrote:
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:39:40 GMT, "Calif Bill"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:13:29 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:06:18 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
om...

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:40:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:2glvc2d2vft74nhu3hlfgero9bpfnp59v8@4ax .com...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:59:45 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Jack Goff" wrote in message
news:9uduc2lvcrv430v7nv5u398botkna3e71h@4 ax.com...

So now the US is an island, insulated from the rest of the
world?
Everyone else is "irrelevant"? Really?

So the price is 25 - 35% "trading excess" (cite?), which is the
futures traders as you've said before, right? But then the oil
companies are to blame for the price, not the traders. Uh huh.

CITE: It was provided earlier in this discussion. Use your search
feature
to
find the first message containing "PBS", and read forward from
there.

Nope. There was some discussion about some talking heads on PBS,
but
there is no cite with solid facts on your 25-35%, because that
doesn't
exist.


These were not "talking heads". These were commodities brokers who
live
with
the numbers all day long. If the barrel price jumps X amount in one
day,
and
they see absolutely NOTHING to cause it, other than amateurs bidding
up
the
price, then what they've pointed out is quite conclusive.


OK, let's us that number. Here's the rest of my post:

However, what is curious is that you made the statement:
The oil companies, knowing
this, do whatever they want with the price. That's a crime, and should
be
dealt with.

But you also said this about them:
Other
businesses make higher margins and it doesn't bother you.

So some companies make (much) higher margins than oil companies, but
for some reason you think the oil companies are committing a crime?
Surely you realize that they have an obligation to their investors to
make money, yes?

Then you blame the price not on the oil companies, but on futures
trading by people who aren't in the business. You said:
Limit futures trading to companies which have a material interest in
the
commodity being traded, in this case, oil. Eliminate speculators, who,
by
definition, are in no way involved with the production of petroleum
products. This latter group is simply playing games. Stopping this
would
not
totally eliminate the fluff in the price, but it would go far in that
direction.

Understand that I agree with you on some of your points. However,
you're all over the map on this. You seem to just be ****ed about the
price, and are blaming everyone except the guy behind the register at
your local 7-11. Is it the oil companies, or the speculators? And
why does gas cost us *half* of what it cost the rest of the civilized
world? Could it be that the oil companies are indeed aware that the
US is dependant on oil, and are attempting to hold down the cost here
in some ways?

As I said, the blame could be twofold. If you want to buy a certain
stock
and the price is inflated due to no fault of yours, you may go ahead and
buy
it anyway. In that sense, you're a victim since the price has been
inflated
by others. This analogy points right back to my comments about a
resource
being manipulated by people who are outsiders.

It would be interesting if a few oil companies were asked (i.e.: handed
subpoenas) and had to reveal what their actual raw material cost has
been
since they began using Iraq as an excuse.


Jack made the points I was trying to get to yesterday. I think you've
backed off your original statement somewhat. I think if you stopped
futures
trading for one commodity, you'd have to do it for all. Many commodities
are 'necessary', we just don't have them in our face every day.
--
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***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

John, within the past couple of years, how often have you said "What the
hell...?" when you've seen repeated price increases for products OTHER
THAN
OIL? If any, name the products.


Tomatoes at Safeway. I think we should all boycott the damn stores until
the price of tomatoes gets reasonable.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John

How about until they get tomatoes that taste like tomatoes?


That would be good too. At $3 a pound, you'd think the damn things would
have some flavor.
--
******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

John