Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : John Pitera's Market Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Pitera who wrote (9572)	6/23/2008 10:52:02 PM
From: Logain Ablar	Respond to of 33421

Hi John: Hope all is well. While I admitt / agree speculation plays a part in the oil market it could not be sustained without a supply / demand imbalance. If its true we are short over 1m bbl/ day then we are not done with this energy spike as demand destruction while starting has more to drop to become balanced. Look to the Saskatchewan for the energy plays. Our future president is against drilling and nuclear and for increasing taxes. Means further decreases in domestic oil production and higher prices. Canada, Australia are the safest areas to invest in from a political standpoint.

To: John Pitera who wrote (9572)	6/28/2008 1:21:40 PM
From: Stoctrash	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 33421

John, Next week should be some fun...yowzer... If the Dollar and oil can rebound a bit we should see some good (but short lived) short covering in US stocks. Here are some quick SPX forks I slapped up. Lower weekly targets 1200-1170ish...rebound rally maybe 1320-1340ish. I closed some puts on Friday...but still riding SDS and some gold. I'm thinking close my SDS on early weakness and reload on any meaningful bounce next week. 1240-60 might find support too. 1280 and 1290 center tines(pink & yellow) could prove to be magnetic also and frustrate bulls and bears the next few weeks. I'm kinda thinking that's what happens...but then again we could crash too! <GG>

To: John Pitera who wrote (9572)	6/28/2008 5:11:20 PM
From: Stoctrash	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 33421

Scourge of the Oil Speculators businessweek.com (page 2 of 2) Related Items * High Oil Prices: It's All Speculation * Oil Traders Take More Heat * Are Pension Funds Fueling High Oil? Story Tools * post a comment * e-mail this story * print this story * order a reprint * suggest a story * digg this * save to del.icio.us * linkedin connections Click here to find out more! "The Most Powerful Guy in Washington" Masters says that as an investor and consumer, he sees no conflict of interest in testifying. "Yes, we are talking our positions," says Masters. "We'd like energy prices to go lower, for crude to go lower. Any stock market investor does." In his Washington testimony, Masters has explained to lawmakers how a flood of money from institutional investors has created a financial "demand shock," bidding prices ever higher (BusinessWeek.com, 5/21/08). On June 23, Masters claimed crude oil prices would likely drop by half if the U.S. market had tighter regulation. At a May 20 hearing, Masters also explained his motivation for testifying: "I am speaking with you today as a concerned citizen whose professional background has given me insight into a situation that I believe is negatively affecting the U.S. economy. While some in my profession might be disappointed that I am presenting this testimony to Congress, I believe it is the right thing to do." At a June 24 hearing, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told Masters: "Those of us who run for office feel an incredible pressure to do something." She added that with his argument that a few regulatory fixes could quickly deflate the price of oil, "You may be the most powerful guy in Washington right now." Masters says he never wanted to become the public face of the movement to regulate oil speculation, but felt a duty when asked by Senator Joe Lieberman's (I-Conn.) staff to testify. Oil's price surge is "a big problem, and it's hurtful to a lot of people and to the economy," he says. "I wanted to help people understand what's going on in this market." Masters, who lives with his family in the Virgin Islands, where his fund is based, likens congressional hearings to "glorified jury duty." Criticized as His Arguments Gain Traction Reluctant as he may be, Masters speaks in impassioned terms about oil prices. But criticism is coming from other quarters. Economist and columnist Paul Krugman wrote in The New York Times on June 27 that Masters is "making the bizarre claim that betting on a higher price of oil—for that is what it means to buy a futures contract—is equivalent to actually burning the stuff." Heads of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NMX) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, and analysts at Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Barclays Capital (BCS) argue that markets are reacting to supply and demand signals and not commodity index investments. Still, Masters and his allies' arguments are gaining traction. On June 26 the House of Representatives passed the Energy Markets Emergency Act, 401-19, calling for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to use its emergency powers to "eliminate excessive speculation." At least five other proposals to increase regulation of commodities trading have been proposed in Congress in recent weeks. And as oil prices continue setting new records, pressure for action builds. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil hit $142.99 in intraday trading on June 27, settling at a record $140.21. ((now this IMHO, if acted upon will shake the trees. I don't agree with it...but for the ST don't fight the FED's or FED. Imagine the rally in stocks IF they could drive crude down to 100 in a few weeks??)) Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York.