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2012-04-18 Home Front: Politix

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Posted by tipper 2012-04-18 00:19|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Of course, for a modest "donation" to a certain presidential campaign, the CFTC might develop glaucoma...

Posted by tu3031 2012-04-18 00:28|| 2012-04-18 00:28|| Front Page Top

#2 Ben Bernanke must be worried about a knock on the door any moment now.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2012-04-18 08:17|| 2012-04-18 08:17|| Front Page Top

#3 this week's Strawman

Posted by Frank G 2012-04-18 08:19|| 2012-04-18 08:19|| Front Page Top

#4 Tacking to the middle.

Posted by Besoeker 2012-04-18 08:22|| 2012-04-18 08:22|| Front Page Top

#5 If a 'bet' on future price of oil (or any commodity) was such a sure thing then everybody'd be making it, and the price would come down. Kind of like horse-racing - as more bets flow to one horse, the payout to the winner goes down. If the price keeps rising, then the bet is not a sure thing. The futures price just represents that which it takes to balance the bets (plus the commission). When the contracts expire or are settled the winning and losing speculators balance out. End users who absolutely, positively must have a set supply at a set date pay a lot for that guarantee; sellers who absolutely, positively must have a set income and a set time sell their potential for greater income in return for that guarantee (end users who find themselves more flexible than they had expected to be receive payment for re-selling guarantees they previously bought.) It's not evil at all (unless manipulated by insiders and crooks at protected, 'too-big-to-fail' Wall Street firms), it's just a means for balancing supply and demand and criticality of each.

Posted by Glenmore 2012-04-18 09:11|| 2012-04-18 09:11|| Front Page Top

#6 Dear Zero,
1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2012-04-18 09:47|| 2012-04-18 09:47|| Front Page Top

#7 Glenmore (#5) - nicely explained, but much too complicated for Joe Sixpack when you can whip up a nice Strawman and keep pushing your populist poop.

Posted by Bobby 2012-04-18 11:06|| 2012-04-18 11:06|| Front Page Top

#8 Its the one and only Boogie man
He creeps, he hides, he sneaks, he slides

Posted by swksvolFF 2012-04-18 11:37|| 2012-04-18 11:37|| Front Page Top

#9 Dear Zero,
1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.
Posted by Bright Pebbles

I see a winner!

Posted by AlmostAnonymous5839 2012-04-18 12:19|| 2012-04-18 12:19|| Front Page Top

#10 My problem with speculation is when its done with paper backed by little or no assets, particularly of the person playing the game. About the time the last run on oil [somewhere near 148 barrel] in 2008, the banking system was freezing up, thus curtailing lending [which is the start of the bailout]. As soon as that happened, oil prices dropped. The government already had the ability to call margin well before then to avert that run, but didn't. Make the speculators back their game and put up dollar for dollar for their bids. Let them gamble with their own money.

Posted by Procopius2k 2012-04-18 12:55|| 2012-04-18 12:55|| Front Page Top

#11 Polling must show the price of gas is hurting Obama's numbers and he has to deflect now to avoid his energy secretary's $10 a gallon goal comment becoming mainstream knowledge.

Posted by rjschwarz 2012-04-18 14:46|| 2012-04-18 14:46|| Front Page Top

#12 "But Obama is unswayed. He is running as a provider and believes there are enough Americans who want free stuff to catapult him to victory in November."

Bill O'Reilly

Posted by Besoeker 2012-04-18 15:00|| 2012-04-18 15:00|| Front Page Top

#13 Third world socialist thug.

Posted by Gomez Trotsky9549 2012-04-18 16:27|| 2012-04-18 16:27|| Front Page Top

#14 Holland & EU SUPPORT LIBERALS AND DEOCRATS THIS ELECTION SEASON AGAIN

Posted by Uneang Scourge of the Slytherins6067 2012-04-18 17:56|| 2012-04-18 17:56|| Front Page Top

#15 #6: 1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.

Assuming he's read them. Those are "white" books, which - except for die-hard commies like Foucault, Marcuse, and Adorno - have been all but removed from standard college curricula.

Posted by RandomJD 2012-04-18 18:10|| 2012-04-18 18:10|| Front Page Top

#16 Mr President. Since you killed the Keystone pipeline, which caused oil prices to skyrocket, your cops will hence forth be referred to throughout the blogger sphere as the "Keystone Cops".

Posted by George Unique7923 2012-04-18 20:11|| 2012-04-18 20:11|| Front Page Top

#17 George Unique7923 - Obama and his Oil police are "Keystone Cops".

Very well done, my man!

Posted by newc 2012-04-18 22:14|| 2012-04-18 22:14|| Front Page Top

23:35 JosephMendiola
23:20 JosephMendiola
23:19 JosephMendiola
22:36 newc
22:14 newc
22:04 newc
22:04 USN, Ret.
21:56 newc
21:45 Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division
21:07 USN, Ret.
20:40 JosephMendiola
20:25 JosephMendiola
20:15 JosephMendiola
20:13 JosephMendiola
20:11 George Unique7923
19:59 Airandee
19:54 Bright Pebbles
19:37 trailing wife
19:35 Frozen Al
19:15 Redneck Jim
19:10 Redneck Jim
19:02 Glenmore
18:33 Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division
18:17 Pappy
Merry-Go-Blog