That's not what actually happened. Oil fell hard on margin calls, the heavy shorters did not step in till it was around $100.
And you think the media and politicians would make a distinction like that? The point is that when oil goes up sharply, âspeculatorsâ (along with big oil and other politically-incorrect targets) are blamed. When oil falls sharply, suddenly we hear nothing about those awful, "greedy" speculatorsâ¦even though MCs, profit-taking and shorting are all involved.
That's part of it for sure. In the last oil bubble, dollar devaluation accounted for about 1/3 the price increase, the other 2/3 was attributed to other factors, with the relative importance of these other factors varying depending on whose opinion was being expressed. One of the other factors that was mentioned at the time was the demand increase on top of shortage created by Morgan Stanley taking delivery on all that oil they stored at Cushing.
I remember that well, especially the part about the oil being stored, which most certainly helped contribute to that 75% drop in prices in less than six months. But then, here we are three years later and all of that seems to have been forgotten. We're right back to this notion that it's all about increased demand in developing economies. Literally, on cue, the same soundbites from that period. I doubt they even have to re-write the articles, just change the date at the top of the page.
Just paid $4.36 a gallon for regular, 2 weeks ago it was $4.16, 5% increase in gas prices in 2 weeks!!!!! Premium is over $4.50, $5.00 should be here in the next 2-4 weeks at the rate this entire commodity market is moving, its a fucking shame what is going on, BUBBLE ben bernanke keeps ignoring the fact that inflation is running wild just like he ignored the fact that housing prices were in bubble land just 5 years ago, I guess he will ignore it until everything falls apart, by that time he may just hint that inflation was a problem. But until that point in time according to BUBBLE ben bernanke there is absolutely no inflation to be concerned about!
I keep wondering weather Bernanke has something up his sleeve. What good can QE do? It certainly does not help sustain a "strong dollar" like he says is in our best interests.
don't forget turmoil in the Middle East. You can't negate that this is a factor as well. Whether justified or not, 'perception' is that instability in the Middle East will drive up prices. 'Uncertainty' drives up prices
See that's the reason that pursuing this weak dollar strategy (even though they'll never admit to it) runs the risk of ruin. It's naturally going to drive up the price of commodities as it's telegraphed that they are targeting a reflation of all asset classes. So oil prices will rise accordingly, but then throw in the risk premium to boot and you have set the stage for some serious dislocation.