Philip Morris

CEO of Proctors, Schenectady

Where oh Where Are the Speculators?


So oil has fallen below 50 dollars a barrel. Not six months ago it was three times that. Proof positive, at least in the short term, that while a finite resource, oil is a commodity priced to the market. International demand goes down, prices go down.

For a moment, let’s forget that this “black gold” is finite. I have questions about what the hell happened over the past year.

Speculators, we were told, drove up the price of a barrel. That means to me, folks buying up future deliveries on the assumption prices would continue to soar.

Were they wrong? Who, really, has lost the 100 dollars a barrel of gabled future value? Are any of them asking for a bailout using a pseudonym like AIG?

Almost more weird to me is where are they now? To me, NOW is the time to speculate, when a barrel nears a 5 year low! Did they lose too much money guessing wrong that they can’t afford to guess right when it’s more obvious? Or, like me, are they just not looking at their portfolios because they are in it for the long haul (wow, does THAT seem unlikely!).

I really don’t get it. How can speculating that a million more people a month on the planet will need more oil be wrong?

It becomes more and more obvious to me that these financials wizards have NEVER been all that smart. They are more susceptible to a herd mentality that the average buffalo.

It’s no wonder a smart guy like Warren Buffett has so much fun and does so well.

Categories: General
Philip Morris

One Response

  1. Dick Shave says:

    Or MY financial Guru – Jim Grant…