Obama Launches Investigation Into Oil Speculators

 

Americans – as are we all – are most disturbed about the rising cost of gasoline now in the neighbourhood of $1.30 cdn. plus for a mere litre and in the case of the US – $5.00 a gallon.

We are right to be concerned since high oil costs will spell the end of our fragile economic recovery.

But Obama is wrong in his thinking that his Investigation will discover mass speculation – rather the cause of the on going spike is Obama’s own policies.

To be more precise – it is due to his out of control spending and out of control printing of money.

These two policy initiatives have combined to devalue the US Buck and since the world commodities are priced in US Dollars – the faster their buck drops, the faster the commodities rise in price.

Simply stated – if the dollar drops 10% in value – the price of a barrel of oil can be expected to increase by 10%.

So that in a nut-shell is the problem.  Obama can save some money by shutting down his inquiry before it even begins.

And it is not just things like Oil that are going up.

Gold and Silver are on a tear too.  This week Gold surpassed $1,500 an oz while silver soared to nearly $50.

One Wag was quoted in the Financial Papers today as saying these Rare Minerals are due for a collapse because they have risen too quickly.

He points out that their rise can be attributed primarily to all the media attention it has been getting – i.e. Gordon Liddy’s “Buy Gold Now”.  That is to say – that sales have been artificially spurred up.

But like Obama, he has got it wrong.

These metals are continuing to rise in value in parallel with the increasing US and European Debt and with their declining currencies.

You will know that earlier this week Standard and Poors placed the USA on a Credit Watch the end of which will likely see America’s credit rating diminished. Such an action will see their cost of borrowing increase which in turn will see their debt rise and dollar devalue even more.

It goes on and on.

Look at Greece for instance.

In order to sell their Bonds – they are now obliged to pay 23% interest and even at that – they are not getting many takers because the financial community knows that the end result will most likely be Default in Payment.

What a mess.

And until the West gets its financial House in Order – it will most certainly continue.

As will the Rise in Oil and Gold.

As I see it….

‘Galagher’

Lions Tigers and Bears–Oh My…

 

Though in our case, it should have been Alligators – Water Moccasins and Rattle Snakes.

For the past few weeks Anne and I have been vacationing in South Florida, on the cusp of the Everglades.

One fair day we decided to take an Air Boat Ride into the deepest darkest Glades.

With visions of the above critters racing through our minds, we doubled our Life Insurance and updated our Wills – then off we went.

We paid for an hour adventure and off we went with Billy-Bob (BB) our Guide.

We braced ourselves as BB twisted and turned and spun the craft in reckless abandon throughout the mighty swamp stopping at various strategic intervals to allow us to take in the sites.

After the third stop though I began to become suspicious that we were being ‘taken for a ride’ - so to speak.

At each stop – BB waxed elegant about the Flora – you know the unique trees and grasses and flowers that can be found within the Glades.

Okay I thought – what about the Man-Killing Reptiles –why were we talking about plants of all things – I was there to see these Killers.

So I asked Billy-Bob – “where the heck were they”?

“Not here” – he responded – the water was not fit for such animal life.

“Fish” – I asked?

“Not really” he replied – “only the odd bottom feeder”.

“Any Birds"?

“Not without Fish”.

So let me get this straight – we drove some distance and spent a considerable sum to take a ride through the renowned Everglades – to view plants!!

I was embarrassed – though Anne did not seem to mind. Chalk it up to the difference between men and women.

So I changed the topic with Billy-Bob, for no other reason than to move on from my disappointment.

“How do you keep from getting lost in here”? I asked.  “It all looks the same”.

BB responded by saying he has it memorized.

“How can you possibly memorize miles and miles of swamp”? I asked.

Honest to a fault, Billy-Bob allowed that we had simply been covering and recovering the same ground (swamp).  In fact, he told us, his company leases a rectangular piece of the Glades no longer than 1 /2 mile in length.

So once again I am crestfallen – here I had thought we had been let loose on miles and miles of untamed Swamp and now I find out we have been limited to a postage stamp size, well travelled and life devoid Parkette.

I was so glad to get back to civilization – back on the busy highways where true danger really lurks.

As I see it…

’Galagher’

The 2011 Election …Some Surprises …

 

Some Non-Surprises.

 

At this mid-way point in the Federal Election a few Surprises for me.

First, I am surprised that the Liberals have not collapsed more quickly under Ignatieff…. indeed, he has campaigned much better than I had expected. 

Second, the Bloc is not doing as well as I had thought. They will still take the majority of seats in Quebec but at this point their seat count from last time would be down and they would not be in a position to become the Official Opposition.

Third, the Green Party is in collapse and although I did not expect them to do a well as they did last time, I thought their base would hold up better than it has.

Now the Non-Surprises:

I expected that the NDP would rise over the course of the Election – at the expense of the Liberals and this has been happening.  This is likely to continue until Election Day and with the Regional Split in Votes – there may be a dead heat for second place between this 2 Parties when the dust settles.

What is clear at this point is that both Parties have a shot at becoming the Official Opposition.

The other Non-Surprise relates to the Tories – they started in the high 30s and they continue to enjoy (?) those numbers.  These numbers are not likely to fall since, for the most part, they consist of their base support.

If they do hold – or go even higher (which is possible), a Majority for the Tories is the most likely outcome on May 2nd.

(I will still make a prediction on the final tallies on or about Sunday, May 1, 2011).

As I see it ….

‘Galagher’