Oil and Politics ALWAYS mix

Oil prices are acting funny.

 

Why?

 

Well, have you noticed the drop in oil prices? They have plunged from $77 per barrel to about $63 in a matter of weeks.

Have Americans suddenly given up their SUVs? Are all the airlines grounded? Is China saying “no thanks” to the modern age?

 

Nope.

 

In reality, only one thing has changed.  The mid-term elections are approaching......and the Republicans don’t want to blow it.

The Republicans? What am I talking about? For sure, George W. Bush is an old-time oil guy, but the Republicans don’t really control the world’s oil supply, do they?

Not exactly, but they do have lots of influential friends.

 

If you think the world’s power elite play fair......then you’ll certainly dismiss what I’m saying.

You believe that everything’s on the up and up. See all the cards on the table. And take everything at its face value.

If — on the other hand — you have a sneaking suspicion that people sometimes play loose with the truth, then I suggest you read on.

 

What you'll learn today can help you in the months ahead.

 

Protecting common interests

I’m sure you’ve heard talk of the “new world order.”  A shadowy cabal of power brokers, who pull all the most-important strings from Washington to Beijing.

Does this secret society really exist? I don’t think so — not quite in the way that novelists and really out-there conspiracy theorists would tell it.

But — and this is critically important — you’d be naïve to think that life’s fair; and that powerful figures and groups never “get together” to protect their common interests.

Of course they do. Manipulation is key to those in power staying in power.

 

One small example: The Federal Reserve usually assumes a more accommodative stance on interest rates around election time. (Like now, as the Fed has “paused” its hikes.)

Simply put, that benefits the party in power. And while the Fed is supposed to be an independent body, when it comes to power helping power, it’s not. That’s how the world works.

And today, power is helping power to keep the Democrats from gaining control of Congress.

 

Watch gasoline prices

They’re down a bunch in recent weeks and headed still lower in the weeks to come.  The average guy on the street knows little about politics, the inner workings of government or the role of the power elite.

Most of them are just pissed off.  About the mess in Iraq, for sure. But Joe Smith from Sunnydale really mutters when he pulls up to the pump, and gas prices are sitting at $3.35 per gallon. And angry voters take it out on the guys in charge.  The entities that want to keep the Republicans in power — or gain some sort of gridlock, at worst — know that.  They also know that none of the big issues, like Iraq, are going away overnight. But it’s funny how fast oil and gas prices can fall when “they” put their minds to it.

 

Friends in the Middle East

Well, not quite friends, but people with common interests.  It’s a story of two Middle Easts, in truth.  One — the world of stone-age tribal mayhem — gets all the press. The other — as personified by capitalistic boom times in Dubai — gets little.  There are many rich power brokers in the Arab world who fear the terrorist scum as much as we do. And they believe the Republicans, led by George Bush, are better terror fighters than the Democrats.  Saudi Arabia, in particular, is nervous about any change.  Oil and gasoline prices are down, because supplies are up. Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest producer of crude. To me, it looks like powerful people taking care of common interests.

 

What a coincidence

You’ve probably heard about the “enormous” new oil find in the Gulf of Mexico.  Chevron’s deep field — nearly six miles beneath the ocean — may hold up to 15 million barrels of oil.

Interesting timing on this announcement — pre-election. And another reason why oil and gas prices are — temporarily — down.  Of course, that’s just a coincidence, right? After all, the Republican party and Big Oil hold no common interests. No, of course not — and I taught Tiger Woods everything he knows.  (What they’re not telling you — it’d spoil the pre-election buzz: This find is a drop in the bucket — like a few months supply at today’s global consumption rate.)

 

So what does this mean to you?

First off, don’t take anything at face value.  Oil traders are using this pre-election oil dip as a trading opportunity to take some profits off the table. Long-term, most are still energy bulls.

Secondly, this pre-election “rub my back and I’ll rub yours” power trip is creating new risks and new opportunities in today’s stock market.

 

As a very accomplished political hack (and a former governor of Minnesota) once put it, “Follow the Money.”

 

MPO

 

MPLS 5th Ward

What a mess.  What is the identity of Mpls 5^th Ward?  It’s confusing.

 

MPO

the devil made us do it

As the political trail winds along, some of the contestants are too busy putting their feet in their mouths (click or paste

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/voters-hearing-countless-ways-of-saying/20060901115909990001

for an example) 

 

While the media certainly can amplify these mis-statements, the perpetrators themselves don't exactly help their cause.  Such a shoot-from-the-hip approach is exactly what we DON'T need as world events heat up.  We have enough of that already.

 

Will this be the year when political turnover takes place, or will this be just another year of pushing a lever and then wondering what Tom Cruise or Britney Spears are up to?  Maybe we'll start to care.

 

Blogger

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if it walks and quacks like a duck...

And so, from the "mouths" of the media no less, comes
this appeal to move from using single inflammatory
analogies:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1515951,00.html?cnn=yes
(paste it in)

For all that mainstream media does to distill the
world's complexities to easy-to-consume, bite-sized
single inflammatory analogies, now they want to "get
sophisticated." having cake and eating, too?

meanwhile, if a despot walks and talks like one, are
we to sit back and wait to see if he is one, or do
something about it before millions more pay?

so short sighted, so inflammatory.

BIC

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Lieberman tossed under the bus

Amazing how politicians will do and say anything to survive on the Hill. Take this entry from CNN on Sen. Lieberman's approach after getting wacked by DNC Chmn. H. Dean and his fanatical anti-war minions. Say what you will about Dean, the one thing he's done exceptionally well is establish a very wide power base of grassroots democrats who are vehemently opposed to the Iraq war, Bush, Cheney, and everything associated with any of them (Lieberman included). Why are so many republican candidates distancing themselves from Bush? Isn't partisan politics fun? The problem is that Lieberman actually understands the consequences of an immediate and total withdrawal from Iraq. Can you say "Taliban, Part 2?" No sooner would the remaining US / UN forces be gone than chaos of greater-than-Bosnian proportions would take place. Sunnis and Shiites would attempt to annihilate each other, with Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia backing their chosen sects. What a mess. Is this what Dean and Co. wants? they're clearly not thinking this through. and when this fiasco goes into full swing, who's going to have to step in? and what will our energy markets look like? again, are Dean and Co. looking at the bigger picture, or is it just fun and fashionable to pull out the protest signs and hit the streets? wake up people, there's more at stake... Texas Toast

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the politics of energy

Here we go again.  Any savvy energy trader will look at today's markets and snap up as many Futures contracts as possible .    Near term prices for natural gas has slipped below $6.00.  buy it now because when that cold snap hits in February, you're going to make a pile of dough.

what does that have to do with the midterm elections?  well, here's a theory... 

Bush want to burnish his legacy.  after all, he has a library to build. 

with so many candidates looking to create space between themselves and Bush, he's working to engage these people to ensure his final two years in office will solidify his place in history by helping push through his policies.  all this is going to cost money.  and it's no secret that Bush's strongest Allies are in the energy business.  they'd done quite well during his administration.  today's dipped in energy prices signals a buying opportunity to raise cash in the coming months as election time rolls near. 

farfetched?  as another old political hack one said,

"follow the money".

The Political Hack

The Political Hack

Our next president? Not if you're from NH anyway. More from the "nanny" party? How the heck are the Democrats EVER going to seat a viable candidate if they keep trying to sell us what THEY think is the right one? And the Dems keep talking about how out of touch the Republicans are.

Funny stuff.

The Political Hack

The Political Hack - where it's at today, August 11, is in the embattled airline industry. From strike-ready attendants ready to spread C.H.A.O.S., to deadly-fanatical terrorists who fuel international chaos, why would anyone want to work at an airline, own airline stock, or in some way count on airlines for their livelihood? What was once a glamourous profession that promised good pay, travel benefits, and endless blue-skies has deteriorated into a low-budget / fresh from Chapter 11 / startup with low-paid support staff from an outsourced firm and confronted by another crazed bomber with a "mission" dispatched from a 3rd world ghetto. Enough already.

What does the US have to do? Working with the rest of the world (besides the UK) and establishing (or re-establishing) intelligence contacts (which whithered during Willie's terms in office), for one. Another is to stuff the ACLU in a box and let law enforcement practice crime prevention instead of crime investigation.

New for '06

Vent, rant, discuss, pontificate, and otherwise state your case. Will it matter when so many hacks do it? That's what democracy is all about. Unless you're a republican...;-)

No cussing, no flaming, no whining and crying.

Politics is a game, and the tote board is now up. Weigh in with your takes on the mid-term derbies of '06, then get really cranked up for "the show" in '08.

Enjoy responsibly...