<p>Hope they get them.</p>
<p>[Oil</a> prices to be probed by US regulator CFTC - Telegraph](<a href=“http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/30/cnoil130.xml]Oil”>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/30/cnoil130.xml)</p>
<p>And I thought that W’s Adminstration was for encouraging free enterprise and freedom and liberty and apple pie and man+women.</p>
<p>Only took one post to blame Bush. Do people even think before they make these idiotic comments?</p>
<p>It took me all of 0.1 minutes to think about Barons post. My post is not idiotic but ‘moronic’, according to zoosermom. I originally voted for W in 2000 because of the R platform to minimize government and let market forces determine allocations. Before W, it was Bill. It is so easy to kick them when they are down, especially when the deserve the abuse. </p>
<p>As for free markets, So what, if someone has a longbet or constricting the markets-just like trying to get into HYP. I wouldn’t short oil futures just yet. In the grand scheme of things, high oil prices may ultimately be in the best interest of America, the oil producing countries and the world.</p>
<p>Whatever the impact of high oil, good or bad, it’s always illegal to manipulate markets. Always has been. That’s not fair market competition.</p>
<p>Anarchy and manipulation =/= free enterprise. I’m glad to see there is a probe, but I’m skeptical there will be any real findings.</p>
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<p>Not so.</p>
<p>There is nothing criminal about manipulating a market so long as you do not employ illegal methods to do so.</p>
<p>^
Have you ever watched the show Wall St Warriors? Just watch the mosh pit as they haggle over futures. Just last night they showed how they control the price of oranges–and it’s all very legal.</p>
<p>
Pump a ton of cash into a stock? Pump a ton of cash into a commodity. Certainly that changes a stock price, no illegal methods were used.</p>
<p>Speculators gotta eat too, ya know. :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Sure, but my tax dollars better not bail them out when they can’t put food on the plate since they took huge risks.</p>
<p>The try to manipualte the prices by making others think they are going to do one thing and then they do another. Looks good but just as often the other guy beats you to it. Everyone is scamming everyone else and in the long run it tends to even out. How many times you think they can get away using the fake broker trick?? That show does expose what a stupid job most of Wall Street work really is. Blowhards and con men. “Know your sports”. Sheesh.</p>
<p>Good article on the oil speculation market and the big players. Eventually the merry-go-round will stop. Hard.</p>
<p>[Asia</a> Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs](<a href=“http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JE06Dj07.html]Asia”>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JE06Dj07.html)</p>
<p>@barrons</p>
<p>Yeah, just like other commodities, oil will come down hard. That’s why I said my tax dollars better not bail them out WHEN it crashes (not IF it crashes).</p>
<p>P.S. This post sounds condescending, but I’m really trying to add on to what you just posted.</p>
<p>It’s not manipulating the market geez – it’s investing – you have to pour resources into a product to get a return.</p>
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<p>Actually, the anarcho-capitalists (the true libertarians) would have something to say about that.</p>
<p>It’s consider manipulation when one group conspires to drive prices by holding much of the inventory and create a monopoly as they tried in the natural gas market.</p>
<p>The eventual solution to that is organised consumer backlash; although probably we don’t have the cultural infrastructure for that yet.</p>
<p>@barrons</p>
<p>Call it whatever you want, but it’s not unethical to do such a thing. I must say that the oil and gas industry is so subsidized and regulated that the true cost of gasoline is much higher than what you pay at the pump. The Navy provides protection to oil tankers at little to no extra cost to them. Pipelines have to be approved by governments before they can be built. Refineries have so many permits that they have not been built since the 70’s.</p>
<p>These sorts of things drive out competition. But how long do you think a scheme like holding up supply can last? Not long. On the other hand, regulations and subsidies last forever (or a very long time).</p>
<p>Ahhh, yes it is. Better retake that ethics class. Many industries have some form of benefits from the government. Not just oil.</p>
<p>@Barrons</p>
<p>So is it unethical for me to gather resources without force and sell it at a high price? Getting benefits from government (which only has resources because of force) is a different story from holding inventory.</p>