Hillary vows to break up OPEC

As usual, I have no clue what this has to do with the price of oil or the price of tea in China. This thread is boring as hell and you are not giving any explanation for the things you are typing.

 

Come on, Boom. I'm simply asking you not to make posts like that and EXPLAIN how outlawing electronic trading is going to have ANY effect on the market. You not only have made contradictory statements on two threads, but your post about who signed into law the 2000 act is like a stupid Oliver Stone conspiracy theory. Congress has passed hundreds of bills since 2000. So what? If you are alleging some kind of misconduct, explain it and spell it out. Don't give me the tin foil hat stuff and expect me to follow along.

The bill you just referenced has to do with electronic trading of derivatives. EXPLAIN what that has to do with the price of oil right now, please. I can explain the supply and demand factors in the oil market right now. A child can understand it. Do you even understand that there is a fixed supply of oil in the world being dictated by the oil-producing countries, which can manipulate prices with how much they drill? Do you understand that they do this--they are a de facto cartel? And do you understand that demand for oil is crazy--has shot through the roof-- as parts of Asia with billions of people have developed and demanded more of the stuff? And do you understand that when supply doesn't meet demand, something tends to be expensive?

You haven't addressed this.

The only way electronic trading has any effect on the price of oil is if there is someone manipulating the price--which is illegal, by the way. That is just a fact. So explain how hedge funds (because it is hedge funds that trade in these derivatives) can manipulate a market that large. Who exactly are these Lex Luthers? If they exist, I'll accept this. But this "Close the Enron Loophole" bullshit is populism intended to find a boogeyman. If you want a boogeyman, look at Saudi Arabia, which is not drilling enough to bring prices down. Look at India which is fighting us in the market for oil and driving up the price (and they are not a boogeyman; it's their right!).

And if you are alleging price manipulation through relatively unregulated electronic trades, explain why exactly they didn't do that in 2002 or 2003 or 2004 or 2005 or 2006 when they had the ability under the 2000 act, but suddenly decided to do it in 2008. And explain exactly how that is plausible when I can logically explain what was going on in the world oil markets from 2002 to 2008 that reasonably explains the path the pricing has followed.

You haven't.

I am against unnecessary government regulation because it hurts us economically. So I am against this on principle. But the 2000 act is of such relatively little consequence that I am half tempted to wish that they would do away with electronic trading. It would have nomimal to ZERO impact on the world oil market. And it'd put this thread out of its misery.

 

You nailed it. Obama or McCain can't do shit about it. So give up on them as your white knights.

Hugo Chavez can. King Abdullah can. A giant natural catastrophe that wipes out China can. Vote for them if you can, I guess.

But also realize they would just be short term fixes. Long term, there is not enough of the stuff--even if they drill all of their reserves--and worldwide demand is increasing--even if you wipe out China. That means it is going to get more and more expensive unless we find viable alternatives.