That is some of the most disturbing news i have heard in a long long time. There really is no choice here as i see it. Every sane American most vote for Obama. We simply can not withstand Gramm calling the economic shots in Washington.
I would disagree. Good, consistent regulation of markets levels the playing field and makes it easier for the retail trader to profit. Look at what happened when bucket shops dominated trading if you want to understand non-regulated markets and what they do for the average retail trader.
Okay - A non-partisan question here. This time last year I bought two 50 lb. cast iron dumb bells. Cost me $40 plus tax. 40 cents per pound. This year, I bought two 10 lb. cast iron dumb bells for my girlfriend. Cost me $19 plus tax. 95 cents per pound. One year later, a 100% plus price increase. Very similar to oil. There is no futures market for cast iron. No Nymex cast iron markets, no ICE cast iron markets - but the one year increase is similar to that of crude oil. Unless someone KNOWS OF and CAN PROVE that there is hoarding of physical cast iron - there can be no "speculation conspiracies" here. And even so, "increasing margins" would not work in such a case because there isn't a futures market to raise margins on. The question is - How do these speculation arguments trump the argument of one billion people suddenly wanting the same stuff we want? The Chinese and the people of India apparently want condos, malls, office parks and cars. Just like the people in Henderson, NV or Huntington, NY. All of which require cast iron and diesel fuel to build them. And then cars and gasoline to travel around, back and forth, to these new constructions. And from what I hear, they tend to like the bigger vehicles. Much like we do. Just wondering.
"The largest holder of heating oil in New England is Morgan Stanley. [...]" That is outrageous. Thanks for the video.
Well, not everyone can have everything they want. Life is zero-sum. Someone else must be exploited in order for people to attain those things. A lot of people are going to be very disappointed.
I am only addressing their attempt to achieve these things and the recent significant impact on prices ... from oil to cast iron. Not the "morality or immorality" of their (or our) pursuit of fufillment. In terms of "not everyone getting what they want" and "disappointemnt" - could it be that this new competition puts us North Americans and other members of the developed world in the position of not getting all the we want (or all that we have been used to - in terms of large quantities of products available at cheap prices) ... ? Not sure from your comment who you think will be "disappointed" - the people in the developed nations or the people in the developing nations.
Naw, Spidey ... That guy is the guy that handles the orders for Goldman on the NYMEX floor. Their head trader is actually this guy ... http://www.stewielive.com/