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Post by heckheckle on May 26, 2008 14:00:13 GMT -5
I believe the Oil Brokers are doing the same thing as Enron did. when one broker creates a
shortage, he buys a "Block" of "So Many" [sic] barrels of oil from another broker, which will leave him short. They don't buy and sell a few gallons at a time, they deal in huge numbers,
so by buying and selling, back and forth,they are always covering their shortage. of course
they would be entitled to a "Few Pennies" per gallon for their trouble. Dont forget, they deal
in Million Barrel lots.
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Post by The New Guy on May 26, 2008 15:30:40 GMT -5
I've solved my gasoline problem... While making a left hand turn at a very busy cross street, with no traffic light, I found a hole in traffic and stepped on the gas to get into the flow of traffic. As I was accelerating and turning left, all things looked fine, as I started to straighten the steering wheel to be on my way, Voila!!!, No steering. The steering locked up solid in the left hand turn and I was still turning left and accelerating right dead on to a head on crash as I couldnt steer. Luckily, He stopped, and I stopped, with much screeching of brakes. There was just this much space between us when we stopped. ><. I freed up the steering and got home and promptly called the "Polly Klass Foundation" and donated the Van to them. My Son told me, about a week ago, that he didn't think I should be driving any more. He was right. At 85 years of age, it's time to take a taxi. I don't travel much anyway, just to stores, and the bank... Alt+Q, is the shortcut to the quick reply box. wow, heckle. not sure what to make of all that rambling. i think more than just the steering is going out. glad to hear you are safe, however. |
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Post by The New Guy on May 26, 2008 15:32:34 GMT -5
Does anyone know who the investors are? They surely must be at the bottom of this! you and i. teachers, construction workers, salesmen, firefighter, policemen, etc. many of us have stock in "big oil" through our IRA funds. many of us don't realize it though. |
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Post by Mink on May 26, 2008 21:08:05 GMT -5
Does anyone know who the investors are? They surely must be at the bottom of this! you and i. teachers, construction workers, salesmen, firefighter, policemen, etc. many of us have stock in "big oil" through our IRA funds. many of us don't realize it though. I'm looking for the investors with deep pockets who buy tons of shares. I went online and found Soros and Icahn to name a couple. |
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Post by subdjoe on May 26, 2008 23:30:24 GMT -5
Soros - the deep pockets behind much of the socialist agenda.
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Post by The Big Dog on May 27, 2008 12:21:32 GMT -5
The family trust Mrs. BigDog and I have owns 1000 shares of British Petroleum, as well as stock in other energy concerns. Does that make me eeeee-viil?  But seriously... looking for individual investors such as George Soros and Carl Ichan and trying to paint them as villains is not the answer. As alluded to above it is institutions and mutual funds, responsible to their own share holders, that control the largest stakes. In the case of Exxon Mobil, as example, the largest pieces of the pie are with: Barclays Global Investors UK Holdings Ltd 233,115,404 shares worth $19B STATE STREET CORPORATION 188,101,163 shares worth $15B VANGUARD GROUP, INC. (THE) 166,300,305 shares worth $14B In fact, 53% of Exxon Mobil's shares are held by institutional and mutual fund owners. The number of shares held by all corporate insiders and 5% owners amounts to a statistical 0%. I really, really enjoy the grillings that showboating members of Congress keep putting the execs of the oil companies through. It is a classic case of demonization and misdirection because the oil companies make very easy targets for those who don't understand the real nature of the business. Care to do a little light reading? www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1168.htmlTo sum it up into bottom line numbers... for the period 1977 through 2004: ** During this period, the 29 largest domestic energy firms earned a collective $630 billion after adjusting for inflation. ** In contrast, the taxes paid or remitted by domestic oil companies have been consistently far greater than their profits and now total more than $2.2 trillion (adjusted for inflation) over the past quarter century. The largest share of those taxes is federal and state gasoline excise taxes. In 2004, governments collected $58 billion in gasoline excise taxes. Overall, governments have collected $1.34 trillion in gasoline excise taxes since 1977. ** These figures do not include local property taxes, state sales and severance taxes and on-shore royalty payments. Let's also bear in mind that crude oil, and it's derivatives gasoline and diesel fuel, is a commodity. The moving daily prices are set on the commodities exchanges around the world. These prices are based on supply, demand and (perhaps most importantly) the strength of the US dollar. Our currency is horrendously soft in purchasing power right now and that has driven up the spot prices perhaps more than any single factor. More locally to us, California's closed gasoline market, a shrinking refining capacity (which shows no sign of being updated any time soon) and ridiculously stringent clean air standards all help to drive our costs at the pump (and at the car dealership) out of all proportion to the rest of the country. |
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Post by jgaffney on May 27, 2008 16:15:16 GMT -5
you and i. teachers, construction workers, salesmen, firefighter, policemen, etc. many of us have stock in "big oil" through our IRA funds. many of us don't realize it though. Those of us who do are outraged at John Conyers and his kangaroo court hearings, where he feels that it's perfectly valid to berate the oil company executives for their paltry 8 - 10 cents per gallon profit, knowing full well that the government (in toto) takes in over 60 cents per gallon. Especially galling is Rep. Maxine "Birdbrain" Waters, when she threatens the oil companies with nationalization unless they bring their prices down. Yeah, Maxine, that's worked really well in Venezuela, where, after Chavez nationalized the oil industry, new capital for exploration and infrastructure dried up quicker than a rain drop on a DC sidewalk in August. Way to go, Nancy! See this discussion. |
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Post by The Big Dog on May 27, 2008 17:39:56 GMT -5
Nationalize the oil industry... how very socialistic of Ms. Waters to suggest such lunacy.
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Post by heckheckle on May 28, 2008 0:24:05 GMT -5
New Guy:
It is not a "Ramble", but there is no way I can explain to you so you would understand.
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Post by harpman1 on May 31, 2008 18:33:51 GMT -5
The BIG SCARY EVIL oil co.'s make less from the sale of a gallon of gasoline than the Fed. Govt. does
If the Nancys & Harrys in DC wanted to, they could lower gasoline $.50/gal today.
But then they would have less of our $$.
Now, we can't have that, can we?
Seriously, oil runs the world & will for many years.
No amount of wishing, funding, praying or shouting will change that for decades.
Let's live in this world, shall we? Not the one in our fertile imaginations.
We can plan for the future, but we cannot wave our renewable wands & make it so just 'cuz we want it to be so.
There are no quick fixes. Besides, there is more than enough oil to see us through 'till then.
Let's all take a Valium & a deep breath & drive a bit less.
We'll be fine.
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Post by JustMyOpinion on May 31, 2008 22:36:09 GMT -5
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Post by Mink on Jun 1, 2008 20:03:26 GMT -5
It seems some don't want to put responsibility on the oil companies or investors, suggesting it is "supply & demand". If that is the case, then people who make their hard earned dollars, ie truck drivers, travelling salespersons commuters are to blame for the cost at the pump. I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me at all.
People are working harder, there are less jobs so it seems the cost of gas would be lower this year in camparison.
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