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Obama will Close Enron Loophole

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Anonymous

Guest
Bush could do something today- but he puts the banking/speculators interests and profiteering ahead of that of the working person....

Obama Vows Crackdown on Energy Speculators

Sunday, June 22, 2008 4:00 PM

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday said as president he would strengthen government oversight of energy traders he blames in large part for the skyrocketing price of oil.

The Democratic candidate's campaign singled out the so-called "Enron loophole" for allowing speculators to run up the cost of fuel by operating outside federal regulation. Oil closed near $135 a barrel on Friday _ almost double the price a year ago.

"My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores commonsense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future," Obama said in a campaign statement.

Obama's campaign blamed the loophole on former Sen. Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican who serves as Republican candidate Sen. John McCain's co-chairman and economic adviser. The Obama campaign accused Gramm of inserting a provision into a bill in late 2000 "at the behest of Enron lobbyists" that exempted some energy traders from government oversight.

Houston-based Enron collapsed in scandal in 2001 when it was discovered the company had vastly overstated its income.
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Congress already has acted to close the loophole, including a provision in the huge farm bill that passed earlier this year. But Obama's campaign said the candidate would go further by requiring that U.S. energy futures be traded on regulated exchanges.

Obama also would ask the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider whether traders should be subject to higher margin requirements. He also would work with other countries to regulate energy markets and press the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate possible market manipulation.


http://www.newsmax.com/politics/obama_energy_plan/2008/06/22/106629.html
 
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Anonymous

Guest
George won't even listen to his Arab kissing buddies- because he and Cheney are too deep into the pockets of their lifelong elitist buddies in US oil companies.... :( :( :mad:

OPEC Chief: Forget Oil, Fix the U.S. Dollar

Friday, June 20, 2008 3:10 PM

Talks between the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank to support the dollar will send oil prices down, predicts OPEC President Chakib Khelil.


"I understand that there is some kind of an understanding between the Central Bank of Europe and the Federal Reserve to support the dollar," Khelil told Bloomberg TV in a telephone interview.


Falling demand this year and higher interest rates may also drive prices down, he says.


"The Federal Reserve may increase rates because of inflation concerns."


Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said policymakers are concerned about increasing signs of long term inflation, although they not worried about severe 1970s-type inflation or stagflation, the disastrous combination inflation and stagnant growth.


Bernanke says the Fed and Treasury Department are keeping a close watch on the dollar’s value.


The European Central Bank has opted to hold rates steady, but its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, suggested it could raise rates next month due to inflation worries. Higher rates in Europe would drive down the dollar.


As oil touched $140 a barrel, nearly doubling over last year, OPEC resisted calls to significantly increase production.


Saudi Arabia increased production by only 300,000 barrels a day. Khelil and other OPEC members have repeatedly blamed speculators and the falling dollar for the high price of crude.


"OPEC has about 2 million to 3 million barrels a day of surplus capacity, but that would have little impact on oil prices," says Khelil, who is also Algeria’s oil minister.


What will impact prices is demand and the strength of the dollar.


"They will be going down if the dollar strengthens," Khelil says.


"There are some talks between the Federal Reserve and the central bank to support the dollar," he says. "This would have more of an impact on price."


"Stocks are high, and there is equilibrium between supply and demand," he says.


Demand will probably increase next year, and OPEC will have surplus capacity larger than 2 million barrels a day, he predicts, saying most countries have made investments to increase supply.


"I’m not sure the market will demand an increased supply from OPEC in 2009, because non-OPEC supply is important and is expected to be important next year," he says, noting that OPEC contributes only about 40 percent to the world market.


Khelil criticized regulators for being slow to investigate accusations of market manipulation by speculators.


"The notion of speculators affecting the market has been known for a while. It’s not recent. They should have done it before."

http://money.newsmax.com/streettalk/opec_chief_fix_dollar/2008/06/20/106300.html?s=al&promo_code=64BB-1
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Well, they said on FOX News yesterday that there was no evidence of spectulating raising the price of oil.

What I wonder about is that the news always talks about Saudi Arabia regarding oil supply and oil prices...when in fact, we get most of our oil from our neighbor to the north--CANADA. And they pay more for their fuel than we do.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Faster horses said:
Well, they said on FOX News yesterday that there was no evidence of spectulating raising the price of oil.

What I wonder about is that the news always talks about Saudi Arabia regarding oil supply and oil prices...when in fact, we get most of our oil from our neighbor to the north--CANADA. And they pay more for their fuel than we do.

Almost everyone- including many of the Big oil companies- that testified to Congress (under oath) testified that unregulated speculation played a major part in the current price of oil- and that the huge fast rise occurred because that instead of investing in real estate with the housing price crash- many were now hedging by hoarding oil against the falling dollar...

The consensus was that speculators made up 30% of the high price of oil and gas...Just like Enron was able to manipulate the price of California and West Coast electricity.....

I'll take them over FOX news....
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Faster horses said:
Well, they said on FOX News yesterday that there was no evidence of spectulating raising the price of oil.

What I wonder about is that the news always talks about Saudi Arabia regarding oil supply and oil prices...when in fact, we get most of our oil from our neighbor to the north--CANADA. And they pay more for their fuel than we do.

In 2000, commodities funds held $8 Billion in contracts. In 2008, they held $103 Billion. I'd say that's evidence.
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
I wonder if the speculators are being more honest in their dealings than the media is portraying? Not saying they are just wondering?

With the fear of all that is going on over in Camel Jock land, maybe speculating on oil prices is a wise thing. You have the uncertainty of rather the U.S. will pull out of Iraq and there be a civil war as a result, AKA rather Obama becomes President or McCain.

Then you have the uncertainty of what the U.S. will do in regards Iran and their Nuke plan.

Then you have Israel flying exercises preparing to bomb Iran.

Then you have the Liberals fighting tooth and nail to keep the U.S. from drilling for their own oil.

You have a population boom going

You have China and India growing in leaps and bounds and adding millions of cars to the road every year.

You have the world producing almost the exact amount of oil daily that we use daily.

Maybe Speculating on future oil prices is just a smart idea for those that play the stock market!
 
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