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Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Discussions about the economic and financial ramifications of PEAK OIL

Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:14:51

Those who write off J.Denver, could easily get caught. When supply is constrained, the actual severity of the problem is obscured by the financial goings on he is describing. The piling on effect is distorting the hell out of the price.

Remember, too, that oil went up to around 80. per barrel a few years ago and settled back to 55. for quite some time, on sentiment, more than anything else. It is a huge mistake to see it's rise in price purely in geologic terms.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:22:27

Dude, Your first chart is off. Look at mine, in nominal terms, and adjusted for inflation. Also, check out the correction of price sometime in 2005 through 2006, back to around 50.00. How do you explain this?

http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/ ... _Chart.htm
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby JohnDenver » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:27:51

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'T')he bottom line is that Jack's position that hedge fund operators can't influence oil prices is a crock of shit, as I said. The NYMEX oil contract is controlled by a very small amount of money, and the NYMEX price governs prices because the NYMEX is used as a benchmark in contracts throughout the world.


So all those E-V-I-L hedge fund types are going long. They buy a contract. It forces the whole market up.

But when they buy a contract, another party must sell a contract. Thus, for every buyer of a contract, there is a seller.

It balances.

That argument is an obvious fallacy. It is always the case, in all markets and all times, that there is a buyer for every seller. There was a seller for every buyer at every step up the dot-com speculative fiasco:
Image
And the 1980 silver futures fiasco:
Image
In every speculative mania in history, from tulips to the real estate bubble, there has always been a buyer for every seller, and that didn't stop speculators from driving the price up.

The fact is: prices are determined not by the relative number of buyers and sellers *after the sale*, but by the relative number of bidders and sellers *during the auction process*. A massive influx of new long bidders will drive the price up.

As for the E-V-I-L thing, I don't have to go any farther than your sig to demonstrate that you're a subhuman scumbag, Jack. Speculators like you are going to be great poster boys as the anti-speculator propaganda gears up. Yes indeed folks, speculators are valuable members of your community. They ratchet up the price of necessities, make money without working, and enjoy buttered popcorn while they watch human beings die. Think we should cut them some slack? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs down> Or rape them with bone-crushing taxes? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs up> 8)
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:38:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shannymara', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'D')ude, Your first chart is off. Look at mine, in nominal terms, and adjusted for inflation. Also, check out the correction of price sometime in 2005 through 2006, back to around 50.00. How do you explain this?

http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/ ... _Chart.htm

His chart was also adjusted for inflation - it just goes a few months farther out than yours. Yours ends Dec. 07 and his ends May 08.


Really. Where is the spike down, in 2005 through 2006?
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby JohnDenver » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:45:07

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', ' ')Is anyone here arguing that the 5 year steady increase is due to speculation ?


Not me. Most of the last 5 years has been fundamentals. However, like Prof. Hamilton, I think financial distortions began to kick in hard about 6 months ago. There are good reasons to think so:

1) The surge since since late last year has affected not only oil, but also aluminum, barley, coffee, cocoa, copper, corn, cotton, gold, lead, oats, rice, silver, tin, wheat and uranium.

2) This surge has coincided with huge, rapid interest rate cuts by the FED, an unprecedented surge of speculative money into commodities, and a "dot commodity" boom mentality.

It strains credulity to the extreme to believe that all storable commodities are suddenly hitting a Hubbert peak in late 2007/early 2008. There are waaay too many fishy coincidences to swallow the "it's just supply and demand" theory of the last 6 months.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby cube » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:47:37

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'L')ike I said before the ridiculousness on this forum knows no limits.

If you want to see all hell break loose start imposing capital controls. That's what you're advocating JD.

History has made it very clear, there is no better "signal" of a collapsing society.


Happened in Malaysia, prior to the Asian meltdown of, I believe, '98. It was the only economy in that region to escape the currency roller coaster, triggered by the baht crisis, that destroyed most of the other countries in that region.

*cough*
I don't know about that threadbear (I'm not an expert on the Asia crisis) but I do know some countries got hit harder than others, for whatever reason. I think you're trying to over simplify things by just mentioning capital controls. I think there were a lot more variables than that.

Getting back to the USA:
If JD got his way and ALL his proposals were enforced, rest assured the US dollar would lose it's status as the world reserve currency. The dollar has strength because people have the freedom to do whatever they want with it. Once government steps in and starts telling people what they can and cannot do with their money then their money losses value.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:52:28

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shannymara', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'R')eally. Where is the spike down, in 2005 through 2006?

His chart was smoothed. All the short term movements are masked.

http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/ ... _Chart.htm

vs.

http://www.wtrg.com/oil_graphs/oilprice1947.gif


Shanny, A "short term" spike down of around 40%, that lasted over a year, is the main reason I'm posting here. Does anyone have a good theory as to why this occured, in 2005 through 2006? It doesn't appear it is related to geologic peak, at all.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby cube » Fri 09 May 2008, 10:58:11

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '.')...
As for the E-V-I-L thing, I don't have to go any farther than your sig to demonstrate that you're a subhuman scumbag, Jack.
.
I'm a speculator too BTW.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '.')...
Speculators like you are going to be great poster boys as the anti-speculator propaganda gears up.
It's okay I can live anywhere in the world. So long as it has internet access I can apply my "trade".
I'm an American but I'll gladly accept payment in other currencies aside the US dollar. :)
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 11:02:04

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'L')ike I said before the ridiculousness on this forum knows no limits.

If you want to see all hell break loose start imposing capital controls. That's what you're advocating JD.

History has made it very clear, there is no better "signal" of a collapsing society.


Happened in Malaysia, prior to the Asian meltdown of, I believe, '98. It was the only economy in that region to escape the currency roller coaster, triggered by the baht crisis, that destroyed most of the other countries in that region.

*cough*
I don't know about that threadbear (I'm not an expert on the Asia crisis) but I do know some countries got hit harder than others, for whatever reason. I think you're trying to over simplify things by just mentioning capital controls. I think there were a lot more variables than that.

Getting back to the USA:
If JD got his way and ALL his proposals were enforced, rest assured the US dollar would lose it's status as the world reserve currency. The dollar has strength because people have the freedom to do whatever they want with it. Once government steps in and starts telling people what they can and cannot do with their money then their money losses value.


Malaysia was protected, through their govt's action on curbing short term investment, that kept speculation from destroying their currency, if I remember correctly.

The ideology that all govt is bad, is just that, an ideology. If all govts are equally stupid and corrupt, a move to Zimbabwe, rather than Switzerland, for example, shouldn't be a tough choice. Which country would you rather invest in?
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby eastbay » Fri 09 May 2008, 11:33:52

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jato', 'P')rices need to go high enough to destroy demand. Otherwise the world would experience significant oil shortages when we slide down the slope of oil depletion.

Artificially lower oil prices = less incentive to find and produce oil = steeper oil production curve post peak.


Exactly Jato! Well put!

This is quite basic, in fact, and nicely sums up what I've been saying too. Consider that in North America, $120+ oil is hardly putting a dent in demand, therefore oil prices will need to substantially increase... how much higher is the big question, but probably much higher before large numbers of people opt out of gasoline consumption.


Related Silly Humans Note: I just read that there are no additional high mileage car models (no, 30's isn't high mileage) scheduled to be imported into the USA in 2009. So unless you want to pay $25,000 for a Toyota Hybrid, any cars sold will be getting under 40 mpg. Remember, the average in France is 40 mpg.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby TheDude » Fri 09 May 2008, 11:44:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'D')ude, Your first chart is off. Look at mine, in nominal terms, and adjusted for inflation. Also, check out the correction of price sometime in 2005 through 2006, back to around 50.00. How do you explain this?


Lame answer: I've seen it explained somewhere. 8) But here's another handy graph from WTRG:

Image

Katrina shut in 363 kbpd - the converse of a big new project coming online. But PADD III Federal Offshore actually showed a lower decline for 2006 over 2005 - more like 170 kbpd. Refineries came back on line fairly quickly. So it's impact on supply wasn't as drastic as might be assumed - certainly not as much as the earlier OPEC supply additions - and thus wouldn't have an immediate impact on price.

At any rate the overall trend is skyward - and we only have 3.73 BBO of new supply scheduled for 2010, less than CERA's 4.5% annual decline rate. Let's speculate our way out of that one! The IEA outlook that will be published in the fall should be interesting, as they're doing their own bottom-up analysis. My money's on that marking a real paradigm shift, as these new Megaprojects are quite meager additions by and large - and the biggest are in exotic exploration locales like KSA.

Course CERA also said we'll have 16 mbpd extra in 2010. :roll:
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby TheDude » Fri 09 May 2008, 11:52:57

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'R')elated Silly Humans Note: I just read that there are no additional high mileage car models (no, 30's isn't high mileage) scheduled to be imported into the USA in 2009. So unless you want to pay $25,000 for a Toyota Hybrid, any cars sold will be getting under 40 mpg. Remember, the average in France is 40 mpg.


I'm grateful to JD for our protracted argument about transportation. Really made me think. Image My bet on the big Silver Bullet for the US is a massive shift away from cars period, to two-wheelers of all shapes/sizes/motors. That seems much more economically realistic than MT sprouting up like weeds everywhere overnight, or Hybrid Nation, at least for the immediate future.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby cube » Fri 09 May 2008, 12:09:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'M')alaysia was protected, through their govt's action on curbing short term investment, that kept speculation from destroying their currency, if I remember correctly.
threadbear
have you ever seen those squishy plastic things at silly gift shops? It's filled with a gel like fluid. When you try to grab it really hard with your hand it wiggles out the other way. Even if you took a sledge hammer and tried to smash it, you cannot pin it down. It will just squish its way around the edge of the hammer. That's the way investing / speculation works. There is a bull market in commodities right now and there is absolutely nothing that the government or all the (pro-government economic interventionists people) of the world can do anything to stop it. Even if *hypothetically* the government rounded up all the day traders and hedge fund managers and pushed ALL of us over the cliff at the Grand Canyon it still would NOT stop the bull market in commodities.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'T')he ideology that all govt is bad, is just that, an ideology. If all govts are equally stupid and corrupt, a move to Zimbabwe, rather than Switzerland, for example, shouldn't be a tough choice. Which country would you rather invest in?
straw man argument
///
here's a good example of how government is powerless against the market:
Look at the housing market crash and the stock market.
Imagine all the "interventionist" measures the US government just implemented. Is it working? nope. see what I mean?
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 12:13:43

Dude, Unless there is massive govt intervention, I think oil will likely remain very high, for several reasons, including diminishing supply. But people should be aware they could be blind sided, by demand destruction, globally, and the ensuing jumping off the band wagon by large investors, hedge funds.

The two-wheeler argument is a good one. Providing the climate isn't a factor, what's to prevent people from going this route, rather than clinging to their dinosaurmobiles?
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 12:23:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'M')alaysia was protected, through their govt's action on curbing short term investment, that kept speculation from destroying their currency, if I remember correctly.
threadbear
have you ever seen those squishy plastic things at silly gift shops? It's filled with a gel like fluid. When you try to grab it really hard with your hand it wiggles out the other way. Even if you took a sledge hammer and tried to smash it, you cannot pin it down. It will just squish its way around the edge of the hammer. That's the way investing / speculation works. There is a bull market in commodities right now and there is absolutely nothing that the government or all the (pro-government economic interventionists people) of the world can do anything to stop it. Even if *hypothetically* the government rounded up all the day traders and hedge fund managers and pushed ALL of us over the cliff at the Grand Canyon it still would NOT stop the bull market in commodities.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'T')he ideology that all govt is bad, is just that, an ideology. If all govts are equally stupid and corrupt, a move to Zimbabwe, rather than Switzerland, for example, shouldn't be a tough choice. Which country would you rather invest in?
straw man argument


I don't think you get what I'm saying and have said repeatedly...as long as demand remains relatively strong, globally, there will be a bull market. I'm questioning how much of the strength comes from the core problem with supply and how much of that effect is exaggerated by excessive money flows ramping up price. I could be overestimating speculation. Time will tell.

If I'm not, and demand begins to drop substantially, globally, prices could plummet, particularly if supply remains constant or increases. This could easily happen short term, when it comes to commodities, as climate change and crop damage is sporadic, somewhat random.

I've been on short seller's forums for 8 years, mainly for the links to political news, but have absorbed a little of what they're posting about. They are the ones who are the first to identify the action of large institutions and how they distort price. They are priceless in terms of identifying trends and spotting weaknesses and info that doesn't make the mainstream.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby Jack » Fri 09 May 2008, 15:05:39

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '
')As for the E-V-I-L thing, I don't have to go any farther than your sig to demonstrate that you're a subhuman scumbag, Jack. Speculators like you are going to be great poster boys as the anti-speculator propaganda gears up. Yes indeed folks, speculators are valuable members of your community. They ratchet up the price of necessities, make money without working, and enjoy buttered popcorn while they watch human beings die. Think we should cut them some slack? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs down> Or rape them with bone-crushing taxes? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs up> 8)


Tell them I've been doing nicely on natural gas as well as certain agricultural commodities. Be sure to mention that I'm hoping for a category 3 or higher hurricane in the GOM this season.

Of course the mob will scream for higher taxes. And the politicians shall duly apply them. Which will nail the naive middle class, but will not harm those who planned ahead.

Surely you don't really think the politicians - the same politicians supported by billionaires and countless millionaires - are going to close all the loopholes? I fully expect Obama to win. I fully expect a wave of populism tainted liberally (pun intended) with socialism. Perhaps even some Marxism. And I'll make profits from it. All nicely within the limits of the law.

Just think - as food increases in price, I'll make profits as millions die and tens of millions hunger.

I think I'll celebrate with a good steak.

Y'all have fun, now, y'hear?

8)
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby threadbear » Fri 09 May 2008, 16:27:24

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '
')As for the E-V-I-L thing, I don't have to go any farther than your sig to demonstrate that you're a subhuman scumbag, Jack. Speculators like you are going to be great poster boys as the anti-speculator propaganda gears up. Yes indeed folks, speculators are valuable members of your community. They ratchet up the price of necessities, make money without working, and enjoy buttered popcorn while they watch human beings die. Think we should cut them some slack? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs down> Or rape them with bone-crushing taxes? <surging roar of the crowd... thumbs up> 8)


Tell them I've been doing nicely on natural gas as well as certain agricultural commodities. Be sure to mention that I'm hoping for a category 3 or higher hurricane in the GOM this season.

Of course the mob will scream for higher taxes. And the politicians shall duly apply them. Which will nail the naive middle class, but will not harm those who planned ahead.

Surely you don't really think the politicians - the same politicians supported by billionaires and countless millionaires - are going to close all the loopholes? I fully expect Obama to win. I fully expect a wave of populism tainted liberally (pun intended) with socialism. Perhaps even some Marxism. And I'll make profits from it. All nicely within the limits of the law.

Just think - as food increases in price, I'll make profits as millions die and tens of millions hunger.

I think I'll celebrate with a good steak.

Y'all have fun, now, y'hear?

8)


Going to corner the market on Che t-shirts, Jack?
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby jato » Fri 09 May 2008, 16:52:10

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'T')he solution is to disincentivize the flight into commodities, and get the speculators back into stocks, bonds and real estate, where they belong. Instead of windfall taxes on productive entities like the oil companies, we need windfall taxes on the profits of *non-productive* entities, like commodity speculators. Like I said, I like the idea of beefed up reporting requirements and a 95%+ windfall tax on gains from oil speculation.


I hope your plan works JohnDenver. I would like prices to drop so I can afford to drive my 2x SUVs and V8 sports car more often.

:lol:
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby kublikhan » Fri 09 May 2008, 16:54:48

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'T')here is a bull market in commodities right now and there is absolutely nothing that the government or all the (pro-government economic interventionists people) of the world can do anything to stop it.
if the FED started raising interest rates that would take the steam out of this commodity bull market.
The oil barrel is half-full.
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Re: Americans to be banned from overseas oil trading

Postby eastbay » Fri 09 May 2008, 16:57:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kublikhan', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'T')here is a bull market in commodities right now and there is absolutely nothing that the government or all the (pro-government economic interventionists people) of the world can do anything to stop it.
if the FED started raising interest rates that would take the steam out of this commodity bull market.


Yup. If the FED raised rates right now it would certainly take the steam out of just about all the markets... , well, out of the US markets anyhow.
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