Had the fed let the free market sort things out we would have been much better off. These rate cuts have done no one any good at all. The fed is breaking the backs of middle income americans with energy nad food costs.
Agreed. The Fed is nothing more than a tool of Wall Street. Who else has benefited from their actions since the rate cuts? The Fed's been bailing out Wall Street using Main Street's pocket book since 1913. "There is nothing new in Wall Street." - Jesse Livermore
So true, but I am thinking more like $70. Anyway, the FED has LOTS to do with crude and gold being where they are, as the FED is slaughtering the $, and they don't care! They know damn well they are creating inflation, but refuse to admit it. Most economists don't say what they think when things are shitty cause they work for the Gov or Wall St. They aren't allowed to give gloomy forecasts for the fear that it may slow down consumption, 2/3's of the economy. Only listen to economists that have private blogs/firms. They are singing a completely different tune. The ironic thing, is that I don't think any amount of rate cuts will help until all the crap is worked out of the financial system so that the banks will lend again, etc. The FED is just prolonging the pain, and creating stagflation in the process. The FED is not supposed to be political, but this has changed in the past few years. Now its no recession at any cost.
Many middle income Americans can't afford to even pay their credit cards each month or their mortgages let along their gas guzzling SUV car payments and the gas to drive them. If you think oil would be at $50 then you don't understand anything about the global economy. China, india and soon others will continue to want to emulative the US lifestyle, meaning more autos, more demand for oil. And $100 isn't the ceiling; it's going higher.
The Impact Of Dollar Devaluation On The World Oil Industry: Do Exchange Rates Matter? The Price of Oil: Is History Repeating Itself? Offshore247.com - Live Oil Price - Brent Spot vs. dollar/euro Oil back above 100 dollars as OPEC meeting begins Vicious cycle: Rising oil prices, falling dollar Europe's economies unfazed by surging oil prices Forget the oil price, what about the euro? Oil Prices Up, Dollar Down â Coincidence? OPEC mulls move to euro for pricing crude oil When will we buy oil in euros? Very interesting, had seen the above links and am quoting some interesting statements from them: "The price of a barrel of oil rose from around 3 Euros at the beginning of 1973 ... Fifth, in nominal terms, the Euro price for oil has only increased by 15% ..." "The price of oil increased 400% in the US and Europe between 1973 and 1986, ... Fifth, in nominal terms, the Euro price for oil has only increased by 15% in ..." "Forget the oil price, what about the euro? Are Arab nations missing a new trick? May be the best way to get the US to listen is to drop the dollar for the euro." This requires a lot more discussions, as it seems now that Euro is gaining as a major currency. The oil prices are related to the dollar, as Arab nations are valuing their oil to the dollars. Thus, as dollar is going down, price rises up, but in terms of Euro, it is not the case. Here is another interesting link to the same topic in Elite Trader as follows: Crude is going up or dollar going down Let us have your opinion.
Exactly. Many of the posters ( and the OP ) on this thread just can't seem to get it through their head that there is a tremendous GLOBAL DEMAND for oil. $50 ??? Yeah, right buddy. It's ALL the FED's fault. :eek: I guess the Copeland's of the world would rather have unemployment at 8-9% because the banking system has ground to a halt and is totally "frozen". No better example of this than with the Port Authority of NY having to pay 20% in order to finance $100 million in short-term auction debt. Get real people.
So true. It looks like some people think the average consumer will be better off with the Fed hiking into an environment of credit angst. I always hear "Inflation is bad for the average Joe, the Fed is crazy". So I wonder, how would the average Joe fare once we have a couple of big banks default? How about consumer confidence when they see Citi and Washington Mutual are going under and froze all assets? First we'd see lines in front of bank branches while people feverishly try to take out all their cash and then lines in front of soup kitchens a la 1980/82. It's all about the lesser evil IMO.
rate cuts have done no one good is right. They want rates down to 2%, watch what happens then....it will only do worse for the economy.
There might be high demand for oil, but with a recession in the US and other countries close to recession, should realize the demand for oil and other commodities will weaken. The fed did help with oil to 100+, that is true, people hedge against the falling dollar by buying up commodities, so the fed did add some push to higher oil.