quote:

ORIGINAL: corysub

There is no question that speculators have a tremendous short term impact on markets, from the price of crude to the price of a stock. However, I don't believe that speculators can "make a trend" in markets, particularly commodity markets which ultimately revert to those that actually use the commodity, whether it be oil, wheat, or soybeans. The "trend" upward in oil, I beleive, reflected the huge demand from China, India, Japan, Europe, and the ever popular United States.  Not only Wall Street analysts were very bullish on oil prices with targets as high as $200 a barrel but also corporate analysts where advising their companies to protect their future costs by purchasing futures.  Companies, such as airlines, purchased billions of dollars of oil contracts to hedge their future operating costs.  One of the biggest players driving up the price of oil was actually retirement  and pension funds. In an article June of 2008, the height of the oil surge,  according to Associated Press journalist Matthew Perron, pension funds had almost $150 billion invested in oil.  The State of California retirement fund had over 1% ($1,000,000,000+) invested in oil futures which were easily outperforming the results of their stock investments. 

Remember too, that the United States has had Congressionally imposed prohibitions on drilling in some of the potentially most prolific areas for exploration.  It's easy to blame Bush for the oil crisis, global warming, and the extinction of the dinosours, and their is a receptive market,  rather than do some in-depth research.  If only a president had so much power.  If true, I would expect Obama, who in the minds of many, including his own, is the Messiah, will soon erase all of our problems  once "change" comes to the White House. 
P.S.
Doubtless there are speculators thinking of schemes right now to corner the market on the wind with which Obama is going to power the country. 

Edited to try to correct some spelling..but gave up.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Archer

Lets see and how many speculators lost money when the price bubble spured on by panic buying busted??????

I said then as I say now panic buying drove the market for the most part. I even provided the supply and demand PREDICTIONS that the brightest minds put forth as to the current at that moment and expected demand and supply. But you'd have non of it. You were convince nthen not that the speculators that I said were making all the money but rather that Exxon themselves were. (we can go back and review the posts). I told you then that speculators were the cause of the spike not the oil companies themselves.

Yet now with hindsite and months after the bubble burst you want to use post demand cuts figures from the last two quarters of the year caused by the high prices as if the reduced demand would have happened without the price spike.  Sorry doesn't fly.