Obama: so where's the change you promised?

[yodajazz]

I think the commodities traders set the price more by what they are willing to pay. They set it by saying that we will deliver in the future at a specific price. But then someone will buy it from them and charge a higher price. I think opec more regulates the supply side. Think about it. Have you heard of them having any meetings where they (OPEC) dropped their prices to what they are today? They are currently meeting to agree on a supply reduction that may force prices to go higher. The middle man, commodities traders, decide what price they will deal at. They then supply gas station outlets. who have to pay them their price inlcuding thier profit margin. (I'm leaving out some steps).

I don't pretend to understand it all. But the crash exposed more on who's really pulling the strings. Sorry to hear about your care dealership.

P.S. I blame the current situation more on a long term trend of taking away the power of workers. Real wages have not risen in years. There is less job security as "at will" employment is the norm (the employers will). Not be overlooked in importance, is that businesses figured out they could reap much greater profits through fees and penalties than providing goods and services. Banks are a prime example. People do not have money to buy houses and cars, and they have to pay a $400 service fee, because they can't pay the cell phone bill, overdraft charges, traffic violations, mandatory car insurance, soon broadcast television, etc.

[El Nino]

http://www.davidicke.com/content/view/18281

[chefmike]

LMFAO@ Nino and his latest loony link! David Icke now?

BWAAHAAHAHA...thanks for another great laugh, Agent Smart.


So who is crazier: David Icke or Alex Jones?

http://www.nndb.com/people/455/000022389/

[El Nino]

Obama's going to bring change? Really?????? http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=9824

Jokes on you, Chefmike

[hippifried]

It was not OPEC. It was commodities speculation.

Nope. Neither one really. The more I look at this, the more I see the entire collapse of of the financial industry as the aftermath of insurance fraud. That's what all these wierded out derivatives, the credit default swaps & whatnot are. The money paid out to mitigate risk ended up dwarfing the risk exposure itself. Then when recession set in & defaults started happening, none of it paid off. The money just vanished because it was never really there. Now the banks are scared to do anything. They just need somebody with clout to tell them what to do. That won't happen for another 4 weeks because there's nobody currently in charge of anything who has any.

[yodajazz]

It was not OPEC. It was commodities speculation.

Nope. Neither one really. The more I look at this, the more I see the entire collapse of of the financial industry as the aftermath of insurance fraud. That's what all these wierded out derivatives, the credit default swaps & whatnot are. The money paid out to mitigate risk ended up dwarfing the risk exposure itself. Then when recession set in & defaults started happening, none of it paid off. The money just vanished because it was never really there. Now the banks are scared to do anything. They just need somebody with clout to tell them what to do. That won't happen for another 4 weeks because there's nobody currently in charge of anything who has any.

It is my understanding that "derivatives' are legally different from insurance and thus not subject to insurance regulations. The derivative you refer to are more like legalized gambling, according to a "Sixty Minutes' piece and others. And that is why they were banned for ninety plus years.

[hippifried]

It was not OPEC. It was commodities speculation.

Nope. Neither one really. The more I look at this, the more I see the entire collapse of of the financial industry as the aftermath of insurance fraud. That's what all these wierded out derivatives, the credit default swaps & whatnot are. The money paid out to mitigate risk ended up dwarfing the risk exposure itself. Then when recession set in & defaults started happening, none of it paid off. The money just vanished because it was never really there. Now the banks are scared to do anything. They just need somebody with clout to tell them what to do. That won't happen for another 4 weeks because there's nobody currently in charge of anything who has any.

It is my understanding that "derivatives' are legally different from insurance and thus not subject to insurance regulations. The derivative you refer to are more like legalized gambling, according to a "Sixty Minutes' piece and others. And that is why they were banned for ninety plus years.

Legally schmegally. A minor tweak in the accounting or the words in the charter & an "investment bank" becomes an insurance company, or vice versa. They've all been bundling & repackaging & buying & selling all kinds of CDOs for years, trying to mitigate their risk exposure because they don't carry reserve funds anymore & have to borrow capital on the overnights to show something in their daily accounts & keep out of receivership. Of course it's gambling. Insurance is nothing but a hedge bet. This got out of hand because it's so convoluted that not even the yokels who invented the systems couldn't figure out exactly how it works. The coverage sold didn't just outstrip the debts. It outstripped the entire economy exponentiallly. It was all a scam to keep stock prices up & cook the books to hide exposure from depositors & investors. They're kiting the checks, & if their investors & depositors find out, they're going to bail.These pukes don't really produce anything but stock.

[SarahG]

Obama is not the President of the United States at this time.

I wish more people would realize that!

[thx1138]

JJ: I'll give him until the end of april.

[thx1138]