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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (847)	7/23/2008 2:48:55 PM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86355

Not true. As we saw with Enron's manipulation of the electricity market, it is entirely possible to manipulate a very large market when you have no oversight and you have all the knowledge on both sides of the trade. Then in the case of oil, when you add to that a cartel that has majority control over supply, the likelihood that manipulation is occurring is extraordinarily high. Here is a general rule of thumb in business. When there is little or no regulation and there is an opportunity to profit, the probability is astronomically high that someone will be manipulating the market to make money. Our economic history books are full of stories where this rule of thumb has played out time and again. So let's look at the oil futures market. It has very little oversight. When trades are made in exchanges overseas, such as the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, there is no US oversight at all. Dubai, as well as other Arab countries have a very high motivation to manipulate the price for a profit. To bet that no manipulation is occurring with this backdrop is simply being naive.