I think the reason I hate OPEC is due to the fact that they are a CARTEL, manipulating one of the world's most important resources. I am disgusted by price fixing, and as traders I hope you are all disgusted by markets that are not open and are controlled by a very few special interests. The US and european markets are not perfect but they are some of the the best in the world. Praise capitalism! Goodluck,
ummmm did we invade the wrong country:eek: someone skipped geography....invasion was supposed to be south of Kuwait??
Lol. As the old adage goes, be careful what you wish for, it just might come true. Price fixing is PURE capitalism, buddy. None of this antri-trust governmental interference happening here dude.
What puzzles me is the bonds and oil both going up today. I guess the market thinks the damping effect on the economy of higher oil prices will be worse than the inflationary effects.
Don't worry. The Russians will never adhere to any of OPEC's demands because some of their production has just come online due to revamped wells and more modern technology. The Russians are in the 3rd inning of a 9 inning ballgame and they will PUMP and PUMP and PUMP until the cows come home!
You tell me which scenario you would be better off in. Which one provides a more "free" market environment that anyone with proper resources may enter and compete. A. Age of robber-barons during industrial revolution (in which about 4-5 families controlled 80-90% of this countries wealth). B. Or now, where the richest 10% only have 50% of this countries wealth. Comparing capitalism to a cartel-oligarchy is just plain silly. Ask any capitalist if a cartel is good, and he'll say "only if I'm a member". Are you inside, or outside? Goodluck,
Exactly my point. That's precisely what unhindered so-called free market capitalism leads to. So the comparison isn't "silly", one thing logically -- given all we know about human nature -- leads to the other.
Cartels always fail - they can only ramp prices during a bull market, and always overextend and then get shafted by overproduction and cheating. The idea that a cartel can "fix" the price of a commodity is disproven by practically every cartel ever attempted. Look at OPEC - oil has ranged from $10 to $40 over the last 5 years, far more volatile than any major non-cartel commodity. Cartels are free markets anyway - no one is forced to buy at their price, you can always choose a substitute product or simply boycott the good in question. Quite why the owner of a commodity should be prevented from exercising his freedom of speech (collusion) and freedom to sell at the price of his choosing (price "fixing") is beyond me.