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85 comments on Dueling Editors

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mw on September 28, 2005 - 2:18pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hey, by the way... over the weekend there was post after post after post whining about potential market manipulation, by the government, of energy prices.

I note that when prices are rising, no one whines.

What gives ;-)

If the government is a real force in energy prices via actual trading in open markets, I will eat my hat.

** Disclaimer, I own no hats.

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louGrinzo on September 28, 2005 - 6:15pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
While I don't subscribe to the idea that the gov't is manipulating markets, I believe the charges were that they're doing it, not that they're actually any good at it.

That was meant to be a joke, but I'm not so sure now...

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mw on September 28, 2005 - 8:01pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I run into conspiracy theories in the trading biz all the time, and discount them all the time. The government has much more effective tools at its disposal if it wants to drive price around... many don't cost a dime, in the short term.

That was some short squeeze today...

http://www.trendvue.com/charts/2005/09/tv20050928-16.gif

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Adam on September 29, 2005 - 12:33am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
We already know the government is manipulating prices, but not through a conspiracy in the options markets. It's been selling real, physical oil from the SPR. Bush even said on TV that they would release more crude to any refineries that want it. That's a pretty good way to drive the price down, and it's completely transparent. But it clearly isn't enough, so other governemnts are selling gasoline from their reserves.

After Katrina, I thought this was a good idea: The SPR is designed to help recover from short-term disruptions, and if they sold at the post-Katrina price, they might even make a profit. But after seeing another devasting Cat 5 hurricane within a month, I'm not so sure. Unless they replenish the SPR between hurricane seasons, it'll rapidly be depleted.

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85 comments on Dueling Editors

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