Posted by Sigismund on July 23, 2008, at 18:01:49
Some clever technically minded person might be able to comment on this....
http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/uploads/An_Open_letter_to_All_Airline_Customers.pdf
Particularly, this assertion
>Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs
It might be possible to understand this and yet be unable or unwilling to explain it. And if you did, would I understand it?
poster:Sigismund
thread:841654
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20080312/msgs/841654.html