Friday saw one of the biggest one-day escalations in the price of oil on the trading exchanges.
The usual crop of soothsayers attributed the increase to news that Europe had taken steps to assist its banks, to the over-hyped -- in a world overflowing with oil -- specter of disruptions in oil markets, and to producers' feverish attempts to catch every sale in the face of the steeply falling price of oil (25 percent in the weeks before Friday's bizarre rebound). Yet these reasons are hardly enough to explain away such a radical one-day jump.
Clearly, other factors were in play. Short covering, of course. But, then again, the shorts were forced into panic mode. But by whom, and why?
Just last week the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) imposed a $453 million fine on Barclays Bank for manipulating the LIBOR interest rate, and the investigation is continuing. LIBOR is the interbank interest rate central to global financial markets, along with a $350 trillion market for interest rate swaps and over $10 trillion market of corporate loans which impact everything from floating rate notes to home mortgages to car loans, touching virtually every corner of the world's economy -- much like how the price of oil impacts the price of gasoline, heating oil, diesel and on.
If a bank can manipulate such a vast market, is it not conceivable that a national entity, whose economy is deeply tied to oil prices, might well attempt to bring about an analogous manipulation?
Just two weeks ago Aleksei L. Kudrin, Russia's former minister of finance, responding to ex-KGB operative President Vladimir Putin's boastful comments about the Russian economy, warned that Russia's national budget "could become too vulnerable to a downturn in oil prices." To balance this current year's more modest budget, which does not include President Putin's campaign promises of higher wages, better maternity leave benefits, greatly expanded military spending and on, Russia (one of the world's leading oil producers, along with Saudi Arabia) needs an oil price for its European exports of $117 per barrel or higher, according to Mr. Kurdin. The former minister went on to say that the Kremlin should brace itself for an extended price slump to $60 per barrel or lower.
Back in 2008, as the price of oil was approaching $100 per barrel, a single trader buying one futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMerc) was able to push the price to the $100 level and nab the bragging rights that went with it. He and his then firm, Conagra, were subsequently fined $12 million for making a "non bona-fide trade."
If one trade of one contract can move the markets, would it not be possible that a major player hiding behind a market-moving event such as the positive news on the European debt crisis would use it to hype the commodity exchange trading to its utmost, far beyond a normal commercial reaction? A move of 9.3 percent or $7.27 per barrel in the price of oil is so massive that it is beyond commercial reason. And with 85 million+ barrels of oil consumed throughout the world each day, it is a cost to the world's economies of staggering proportion.
CFTC, now that you have bagged one biggie, how about another!
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www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/state/state1.html
This is when gas hit $1/gal and new pumps were needed because they could only go up to .99 and tripple digits was not possible.
The average income in 2011 was roughly $47,500. The cost of gas, which we have known for 33yrs now, is a limited resource, and as such will get more costly as the supply dwindles, seems to pretty low based on the % of income from 1979 to today, and factoring in how much oil has been consumed in 33yrs, to make the world supply become even more limited.
If we don't switch to another fuel source, we only have ourselves to blame for the high cost of oil/gas.
The spike is because of tensions with Iran threatening to close down the straight, the posiblity of reopening the straight with force, another possible war. Closing down the straights will shut off a major route of oil to importing countries causing major shortages.
There's a reason Obama is sending F-22's and F-18's in the area along with 2 aircraft carriers.
Don't blame American appetites, rising oil prices, or genetically modified crops for rising food prices. Wall Street's at fault for the spiraling cost of food.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/27/how_goldman_sachs_created_the_food_crisis
I have never seen a stupider question, as manipulation is the entire point of groups like OPEC...
Control Supply and Demand Prices is how it works today.
Add in speculators that alone contribute 30% to 40% to the price of oil.......you know the group that pushed oil prices up last year on the rumor that the rare Albino Artic Army War Ants were using the Alaska Pipeline for migrations.
Oil and prices....wouldn't it be simpler and far less tension to simply allow the oil companies and speculators to print their own money.
They have trading offices all over the world and some on exchanges without the tight rules they have here. Those exchange prices overnight (day in Asia and Europe) spill over into our trading.
I believe these are the culprits you're looking for.
The evidence shows that is not the case. The markets work just fine.
I know because I shorted oil at 97 per barrel and sold when it got to 79 and I made a nice little chunk of change.
Don't need to be a big wheeler dealer, I invested about the same amount of money most middle aged guys would spend on a motorcycle or a really good musical instrument.
Most folks would know a hell of a lot more about the oil markets if they simply checked the spot Brent and West Texas crude price every day and checked in at sites like Marketwatch and Real Clear Markets and spent a few moments reading the articles.
The occasional politically motivated article you will read here or some other general news site is not really going to explain anything to you.
Every time I pull into a gas station and fill up for .50 less per gallon I feel good about what I did.