Redstate

to this as well.
Bueller, Bueller, anyone?

It seems simple to tell the Americans that we are sitting on huge, unexplored oil fields that the Democrats have prevented us from using. A simple campaign ad would say something like, if we started drilling 20 years ago, 10 years ago, only 5 years ago, and show the impact on today.

...it will put upward pressure on oil. The Fed cutting rates also will put upward pressure.

These prices are not supported by supply and demand. There is a TON of speculation going on right now, and every time Chavez and Ahmadenijahd (sp?) open their mouth, the market gets jittery and usually bumps up.

I agree, though will CroakerNorge. McCain and the GOP can use this to push for more domestic production and refining if they're smart. Unfortunately, McCain has opposed more drilling in the past, so I don't know if they will or not.

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

The demand for gasoline his somewhat elastic. Americans will increasingly find ways to have their workers telecommute and to have their groceries and such delivered.

"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.

But I don't know that we can really do much to strengthen it. Intervening in the currency markets to try to support it seems like a pretty bad idea to me. The reality that we aren't going into a recession without dragging the rest of the world into it with us will eventually dawn on the rest of the world and should take care of the problem by itself. Right now they seem to be expecting just that.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman

But I was of the understanding that the following factors all come into play:
* Refinery capacity (not enough, at least domestically)
* Weak dollar
* Global demand (China and India both have increased demand dramatically)
* Whatever amount of supply manipulation OPEC is engaged in

At least in the US, I'm given to understand that the refinery capacity issue is a big problem.

It's called inflation. Sure the price will bounce up and down - I was complaining about the price yesterday, so my wife V8'd me...numbskull, should have thought about inflation.

Erik

And because of widespread expectations that it will fall, a lot of people need a hedge. As it turns out, crude oil fills that need almost perfectly.

The dollar is hard to short because how would you do it? You'd need to borrow and sell the hottest assets in the world right now, US Treasury securities. No one wants to play with fire.

That's why crude oil has been strong. Gasoline is a totally different market, with very different dynamics, much more driven by fundamentals. You'll notice that gasoline demand is falling, and the price of gasoline hasn't risen anywhere near as much as the price of crude. (Who gets hit with the difference? The refiners do.)

But today changed everything. The dollar had a dazzling rally and crude oil finished down. I'll probably write a front-pager about it later.