by joewp » Wed 05 Mar 2008, 21:26:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oil-Finder', '
')But was that demand real, or was it mostly a result of speculators?
It was mostly a result of speculators.
You had an artificial bidding-up of housing prices followed by an artificial building-up of housing stock. When the speculators could no longer out-bid each other, and defaults on mortages started to rise, the whole scheme came crashing down.
Gee, I guess my next door neighbor who bought in 2004 and still lives there with his wife, two kids and yappy dog is just a speculator? I guess the hundreds of people that bought houses in my township in the last 5 years are just speculators and will be leaving soon?
Good, maybe the traffic will thin out a little.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Now you have speculators doing the same thing with oil futures. The bidding up of prices will bring even marginal supplies to the market, but those high prices will also temper demand. At some point buyers will realize they have easy access to oil from many sources but there won't be as much demand as they had first thought. So the market will be saturated with oil, and the whole thing will come tumbling down.
The only question is When. It might start happening next month, or it might not happen for another 5 years or more. The last bull market in oil lasted more than 10 years (early 70's to 85/86). So who knows how long this one will last.
2) Demand in places like China and India is just ramping up, and they don't know the price is high, so the high price doesn't affect them. Demand in the US is still growing even at $3.00+ gas prices.