Oil - Fleecing the general public

[Hemidakota]

Max Whitmore

...Now, I want to turn to oil. I will be brief concerning my feelings about the oil situation. This entire run-up of oil prices is a very carefully planned event by the oil suppliers, the Middle East producers being most prominent. If you believe otherwise, you just do not understand markets.

Markets always like a “hot” stock. That will never change. But, it always, I repeat always, takes a “promoter” to get a “hot” stock hot. Promoters will spend money advertising, paying writers to “plug” a stock, buy their way onto radio and TV shows, or whatever it takes to get investors’ attention. Promoters will work with brokerage houses and individual brokers to promote their stock to investors and, if necessary, even bankroll the buying to move a stock higher.

But all this takes time, money, and lots of heavy duty coordination to accomplish. True, now and then a true rush to a stock is caused by a totally unique product like Xerox, Apple's iPod, and a few others I could name. But, that only happens a few times every decade. Most of the “hot” stocks out there make only the promoters and a few of the truly savvy speculators money. The average investors comes out poorer almost every time.

No, this oil move is a carefully orchestrated event. Huge money pools are financing the buying of the futures contracts to run up the prices. Giant power centers are making sure that no one gets “out of line” in this incredible fleecing of the non-petroleum countries.

The folks behind this push are the same ones that brought us the 1973-74 gas lines and changed the world’s financial power centers forever. Only this time the reason for the move by these folks is quite different.

The oil producers can see the handwriting on the wall. Oil will soon become just one of many power sources in the world. The so-called alternative fuel sources will force oil producers to reduce their price per barrel by a huge margin and for good in the next five to seven years. To “make hay while the sun shines” so to speak, the oil powers are using their huge money pools to run up prices that then translate into higher prices per barrel, even when nothing has changed, especially production costs.

All the talk of running out of oil is nonsense. If we want it bad enough, we could do what the Nazis did in WWII and just make it in chemical plants. Did you know that German scientists did just that over 50 years ago and maintained their entire war machine with synthetic fuel?

If you question this, just look at the diamond business. We can now make diamonds that are truly difficult to distinguish from the real thing and for very low cost. Yes, the diamond business is very worried.

No, this oil move is a careful plan to fleece the world of huge piles of money that will then be used to buy banks, insurance companies, food companies, almost any high grossing consumer goods company, regardless of its location in the world. Thus, when oil does fall from its throne, the income from these purchased businesses they own and control will replace the oil income. Who needs oil?

This fleecing is going on even as I write this article. Look in your local newspaper at the companies being bought. Where do you think the money is coming from? It is coming from “private investors” (who are their partners), banks (already partly-owned by oil powers) and other innocuously named private groups funded by the oil giants to disguise their oil-backed involvement.

Look, I don’t write this to condemn anybody. I just want the truth out there on the table. Maybe then somebody in authority will do something to bring a quicker end to this fleecing. Where are the politicians in all this? Where are all the regulators in all this? Surely the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has the power to cool down overheated markets. I used to trade commodities, and believe me, the CFTC can do just about anything they want to a market. Do any of you remember the Hunt Brothers’ attempt to corner a market in the 1980s? The politicians and regulators cut them off at the knees, as they say in my business. But, this time it is not two brothers doing the cornering, it is a multi-trillion-dollar combine that knows they have the power to hold back almost any action that will impede them. Money is power. A huge amount of money is huge power.

Well, that is all I have to say for today. I just wanted to put it in writing that 95 percent of what you hear about the dollar and oil is gibberish designed either to sell something or to bring influence to bear for political reasons. But, that has been going on for centuries and will never change. In this case, however, it is just that the stakes are far, far bigger.

Next time you hear the gibberish, just change the channel, turn the page, or change the subject to football or baseball or some friendly conversation topic. You will accomplish a much more productive outcome.

[Jbs2763]

we need to squeeze every drop we can out of this rock until we find a viable alternative....that means drilling everywhere..and the US congress (most of the idiots up there) do everythign they can to stop at, and teh eco-terrorists are doing what they can to stop drilling also...

meanwhile Russia gave a 600 billion dollar tax cut to thier oil co's to do more exploration....

who'd of ever thunk the ruskies would be better capitolists than us?

[Tough Grits]

The saddest part of all...is that we have a source of energy that is renewable and it is FREE.

The sun.

We wouldn't even have to pay the electric company if we all had solar panels on our houses.

What about solar powered cars?

We can put men on the moon, but we can't open our eyes to the technology that would allow us to be oil-free.

Well, we do have the technology. But nobody wants to implement it, because it would mean that oil companies and electric companies would lose money and people would lose jobs.

That is why we are not really going GREEN. What a joke this whole concept of going green is.

Going solar would do ALOT more benefit to the earth (AND TO MY WALLET) than changing some bulbs.

We will never turn to the sun...even if it means that we have to eventually pay $10 per gallon. Oil companies know that. We are all being fleeced...but we are also letting it happen.

I could care less about going 0 to 60 in however many milliseconds.

I could care less if my car even went faster than 55 mph.

All I care about, is having a car that I could charge up during the day by the sun, and that it would get me from point A to point B.

Oh well. That is just my slanted opinion. LOL LOL

[Snow]

The cost to travel one mile and the cost of a gallon of gas as a percentage of the average income is about the same today as they have been historically.

No one is getting gouged - relative to historical levels.

[Hemidakota]

Sorry but I beg to differ since it is now beyond the 70s inflationary rate. That has been proven. Energy Victory by bestselling author Robert Zubrin

We have the capacity and reserve for the next 200-years based on a 25MilBpd usage. Our current usage for this nation is 20MilBpd.

[Loudmouth_Mormon]

Originally Posted by Hemidakota

This entire run-up of oil prices is a very carefully planned event by the oil suppliers, the Middle East producers being most prominent. If you believe otherwise, you just do not understand markets.

What a self-righteous, stupid claim. "You gotta believe me, because if you don't, you're an idiot!"

I'm not impressed with sensationalist conspiracy theorists in general, and I'm not impressed with Max Whitmore specifically.

I hear different people try to explain why we have high oil and food prices. They come up with lots of different reasons, from geopolitics to commodities speculation to impact of emerging China to peak oil issues. Our good buddy Max, however, is the only one telling me I'm a fool if I don't buy his line of thinking 100%

Phooey.

LM

[Hemidakota]

Hmm...I guess you are not researching enough on your own and pretty much thinking it is only Max has the center of attention of one and all knowing. Agh no. Forbes this morning saying the same thing.

EIA which is the non-biased data collector for energy information, is saying the same. This is where CNN and others media centers retrieving news info but failed to do the homework on WHY.

The gov investigation in the end will reveal that OPEC is the main purchaser of Future Commondities.

[the Ogre]

Bah . . . who cares, if you are so concerned, buy a scooter or ride a bike (I ride a Trek). The gas prices are going to go up too. Yes, the conspiracy guys just might be right, but since the American public (me included) is way too fat, bike riding might be a good idea. America: get off your fat cans and bike ride to work (or at least consider mass-trans)!!!

In the end it doesn't matter. A friend of mine in the commodities biz (he's making a killing in corn right now), who predicted the current price last year, says a gallon of gas this time next year will be about six dollars considering the demand in Asia and India.

You can always buy a bike with a very wide seat. America: how about recumbants, loads of fat dudes ride those?

[Tough Grits]

I guess perspective and income level play a huge part also...because I most assuredly DO feel as if I am being gouged...but then again, I only make 10k per year. That is peanuts compared to what the average American makes annually.

I am not a radical...I just think it would be great to pay for solar panels on my roof and a solar car upfront, and then never have to pay another bill for electricity or gas again. That sounds great.

Aren't we supposed to be trying to improve upon technology and make things better? Why are we limiting ourselves to technology and resources that leave us dependant on others?

To me, it is merely a matter of logic.

Besides, who in their right mind wouldn't want to get rid of a monthly bill for electricity and a weekly bill for gas? Hey, if somebody has that much extra to spare, that they don't mind the pinch of an electricity bill or gas bill, then please allow me to send you my address so that you can send me some of your extra money!!!!!! LOL LOL

Wait a minute, I'm serious...I need more money. If you have some...send me a private message!!!!!!

[Tough Grits]

BTW...

1. I am not fat.

2. I am not lazy.

3. I have two kids. If they sold a scooter that was safe to have a 7 year old and 5 year old passenger...then I would absolutely buy one!!!!!!

4. I live in rural, backwoods GA...getting from point A to point B often involves bumpy dirt roads, slippery clay roads, avoiding deer (and rabbits, armadillos, and possums too) as they jump out in front of you, SLOW tractors blocking the road, and LONG stretches of asphalt between yokel towns.

Not making excuses...just stating the facts. But I would LOVE a scooter. In fact, if golf carts were legal on the roads, then I would get a golf cart and ride to work in that...as I could put the kids booster seats on the back row of seating. That would be awesome.

Once again, we could be driving battery powered golf carts all over the place...but laws prevent us from doing so.

We need to rise up!

We need to demand that laws be changed to allow vehicles on the road that only go a maximum of 10 MPH.

It is 7 miles from my home to the nearest town. At 10 MPH that would only take a little less than an hour to get to work (the elementary school).

It is 20 miles from here to the nearest bigger town, where I go to college and where I go to Wal-Mart (yes, that dreaded evil empire) to get groceries. So, that would only take me 2 hours to get to college and to Wal-Mart. Can a golf cart go that far and long without being re-charged?

Hmmm.