Oil Speculators Kill Global Economies, Feed Global Inflation

May 25, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

High oil prices are tormenting all the oil importing nations. This, in turn, is causing tremendous global inflation. This has happened more than once in my life. We have to understand the nature of speculators, high oil prices and how this impacts all sectors of the economy. And the dark pools run by banking houses whereby they can trade alongside the pirates of the hedge funds, these are a big problem that also cause global inflation. And the bankers want to coordinate these dark pools so they can conspire to make this much, much worse. The bankrupt banks need some money stream they can tap and nothing is better than to use energy and food as that money making machine! Which kills all other business, of course.

Losing a Mint: Curb on Coin Sales Angers Collectors

The government rationed food during World War II and gasoline in the 1970s. Now, it's imposing quotas on another precious commodity: 2008 dollar coins known as silver eagles.

The coins, each containing about an ounce of silver, have become so popular among investors seeking alternatives to stocks and real estate that the U.S. Mint can't make them fast enough. In March, the mint stopped taking orders for the bullion coins. Late last month, it began limiting how many coins its 13 authorized buyers world-wide are allowed to purchase.

I have been around a while. I remember several times in my life when people hoarded real silver coins and other silver things, gold suddenly shot up in value, and of course, the fundamental item, oil was the #1 thing to shoot upwards. Food always roared alongside fuel. These cycles always coincided with wars, the creation of excess debt leading to a fast growing money supply an the dollar being heavily devalued. Which only ends when interest rates go up. We have had recessions caused by other things. There have been other bubbles. But the killer recessions, the ones that lead to the greatest dislocations are the ones that feature high oil prices.

It was popular during the 1990's to pooh-pooh the war=>high oil prices=>inflation=> high food prices. Then, the story line became, 'So what? Food and fuel are only 12% of the average American's income.' Of course, left out of this was the horrible idea that the times food and fuel are 12% of the income is when they are CHEAP. When they are expensive like we see today, they are much more than 12% of the income. The purchase of cars, houses and TVs are usually by getting loans. Generally speaking, the middle class pays cash for food and fuel.

So when the fuel gets very expensive, they have to use credit to buy something which is burned, not something that can be sold on ebay, say. Differentiating between purchases that can be resold such as houses, cars or TVs and those things which are consumed and ceases to exist, is very important. The more people have to spend money on one-time consumables, the poorer they are. So when people have to go into debt to buy heating oil, say, this is very destructive over time. On top of this, when the government and the central bankers conspire to make savings impossible by keeping lending cheap, savers who have anything left over after paying the heating bills, will buy something that will retain its value as the currency debases.

Once upon a time, we got silver coins the old fashioned way: the government issued these things and we simply passed them hand to hand! How elegant. Now. they are 'collectables' and we have the comedy of paying $20 for a $1 coin, for example. Whatever the price, the yawning gap between what a coin cost us in 1960 and what it goes for today is a terrible testimonial about inflation. True, TVs and cars got relatively cheaper compared to our incomes! But not fuel and food. A 5¢ loaf of bread is now over $2 a loaf and climbing rapidly.

So now, the Mint can't mint enough coins? This is amazing and shows us the utter, foolish failure of the Fed. The Fed should be ashamed of itself. And as I keep saying, the banking system is really bankrupt. Our Mint is muck. Our government is a failure.

Slick investors strike riches as they cash in on peak oil

Hedge funds are riding high on record oil prices - and now retail investors are joining them. Louise Armitstead reports

Retail investors have joined a raft of hedge funds and pension funds in making millions of pounds by cashing in on the oil crisis.

Thousands of individual investors have piled into oil futures and have made as much as 200 per cent returns as the oil price soared to record highs in recent weeks.

Last week oil prices jumped 7 per cent, breaking three records and touching $135 a barrel on Thursday on new fears that supply is outstripping demand.

Clive Cooke, chief executive of City Index, the financial spread betting firm, said: "We've seen a big switch into oil - it is now by far the biggest trade at the moment."

One trader said: "The price has doubled in a year. With leverage on top this has equated to huge returns and it's been a one-way bet all the way.

Global inflation is being made much, much worse thanks to the speculators. According to what I have read, these pirates get to buy futures with only $6 per barrel. The rest being LENT to them and they pay only when the contract is completed in the future. If the price drops and they can't sell this future oil for $134 a barrel and say, it goes for $120 a barrel, they have to pay the difference. Or go bankrupt. Usually, the get rich if they and their buddies can keep bidding up the oil. And if they fail, they go bankrupt and no one pays up.

Another endless hole in our collective pockets. This game is destroying international trade and economics. Look at how bidding up the price of oil is shoving much of the planet into poverty and insurrections! As all the economic systems collapse, all the pirates want is their cut! This is why I call them 'pirates'. They have no social responsibilities. And the cure is very simple: the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve simply have to raise interest rates so high, these pirates can't borrow obscene future funds and then use this to jack up the price of various things!

When inflation becomes GLOBAL it has to be stopped. And each and every time this has happened in the past, the only party capable of stopping this madness was the US and the tool was higher interest rates. This medicine is bitter but it is the only cure. Or we can sit idle while everything spins out of control.

Airbus at `Less Than Zero' Value Still Loses Altitude

Airbus SAS, the world's largest commercial aircraft maker, is valued at ``less than zero'' after this year's 31 percent drop in the shares of parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst Joe Campbell.

``The market is viewing Airbus as a liability, rather than an asset,'' said Campbell, 62, who is based in New York and has ranked among the top five aerospace analysts for six consecutive years in an Institutional Investor magazine poll.

Not only Airbus but all the airline industry will go under if this keeps up. Not to mention the goofy US auto industry that put all its eggs in the SUV basket. I read in the news that airlines are charging an arm and a leg for every extra thing: luggage, pets, unaccompanied children, they scour their charges to see what they can raise. We will see, like the last three times we went through this war/oil/inflation messes, quite a few bankruptcies and probably some jet disasters like the one today in Europe where a jet taking off simply broke in half and crashed. Both Europe and the US depend very much on selling expensive jets as a way of balancing the trade deficits. Not that the US comes even remotely close to balancing anything this way. But it is always trumpeted as a great thing when Boeing sells a jet. This is going to dry up. Europe is already hurting badly from this. And the whole point of everyone building bigger and bigger jets is to save money on staff. The same pilots will fly double the passengers and thus, make a profit for the airlines. But not if there is huge oil inflation.

Lagarde Calls for Higher Dollar and Yuan Versus Euro

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she wants policy makers to seek a stronger U.S. dollar and Chinese yuan against the euro.

``I would arm twist whoever is holding these strings to pull the dollar up,'' Lagarde said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Chicago. ``I would like to do that for the yuan as well.''

European officials including Lagarde are concerned that the strength of the euro against the dollar and the yuan would hurt the competitiveness of their exporters. Even after the dollar tumbled around 17 percent versus the euro in the past 12 months, Europe's economy has shown resilience to the U.S. housing recession that pushed up borrowing costs worldwide.

Welcome to the Floating Currency Regime! Nothing is solid, everything goes up or down and no one knows how to change this. Well, this was a temporary condition that is now chronic. The Europeans want to fix it by jawboning everyone into a configuration that suits Europe so they can export huge amounts to the US and have a trade surplus with us. We, on the other hand, have to use our currency to balance our trade. We should have the weakest currency on earth since we have the biggest trade deficit on earth for years and years. But no one wants this, the least of all, the US consumers. So the dollar is kept at an artificial level and the Europeans complain bitterly but dare not say why. Except generally speaking. At least they admit this is all about trade!

But the US has no allies in this matter, only bitter rivals. The sooner we understand this, the better.

Banks allow access to dark liquidity pools

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS are to link their private stock trading operations to improve liquidity and better compete with the increasing number of alternative exchanges.

The move, to be announced on Tuesday, will give clients of each bank access to the other’s so-called dark liquidity pools – the private interbank or intrabank platforms widely used to trade stocks away from exchanges.

The pools are used by clients such as hedge funds to buy and sell large blocks of shares in anonymity and without the danger of moving the public price of a stock on an exchange.

The development of dark pools is considered a potential threat to established exchanges. Some analysts suggest the various pool providers could eventually join together, combining their individual ones and then applying for exchange status.

Tuesday’s move stops short of combining the banks’ respective dark pools. “These are access arrangements,” said Will Sterling, managing director of UBS’s electronic trading. “These agreements should offer clients access to additional high-quality liquidity without making their trading process more complex.”

Great. Just what we need. Everyone diving into 'dark pools' where they can buy and sell stocks unseen and no one except the insiders have any idea of what is really going on! I say, all these damn dark pools should be drained because they are swamps. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. The entire system is being hauled into the darkness and this is bad, bad, bad. For as I keep pointing out, this is all about the Cave of Death! Whenever we see this place, we should yell and run like hell.

Simple, eh? This 'joining together' to make dark trades is a CONSPIRACY. And people doing this will do it so they can cheat someone who doesn't know the true value or inside information and this included the SEC. The fact that banks have 'dark pools' is all very much about the whole business of the Derivatives Beast and the creation of Funny Money™. There is no way they should be allowed to do this. It should be illegal. And it is CERTAINLY inflationary. And is feeding the pirates in the speculative markets that are causing global inflation.

Shareholder Distributions Reached Half Of Net Profit In FY07

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Publicly traded companies distributed 12 trillion yen to investors last fiscal year through dividends and stock buyback programs, a record amount representing nearly half of net profit.

And hooray for Japan's 'depression'! As I keep saying, yes---the workers are very depressed. As well as oppressed. The top 1% of Japan has had record profits, their corporations are doing great and they are taking over America. Isn't that hilarious? Every week, I like to point this out. Someday American writers might notice this. Heh. Eventually. If we remind them hard enough.

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[CK]

"No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage! "
And in other news, Liz Trotta, ex-NY bureau chief of the WAPO, has agreed with Hillary that killing Obama/Osama/both would be a good thing. The mordant chuckle after saying this on Fox was priceless.
And in yet other news, McCain is one overmedicated bundle of wierd. Ambien indeed. And all of his meds have that do not take with alcohol warning, McCain is not a teetotaler.
The Libertarians nominated ex republican rep. Bob Barr. I suspect that this will not take a whole lot of conservative or libertarian votes away from Obama. Doubt that it will make even Georgia twitch.
Diesel over $5/ gal., and the Fed DOT has new data saying that miles driven went down last month. I suspect that commercial miles led the way, of course an increase in unemployment should also lead to a drop in commuter miles driven.
In the good news deparment, airlines are looking to increase the cost of flying for overweight people.

[hakan with the reindeer]

It's turning to a 'Dog eat dog' world:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/business/25pain.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

"Even for some of those who survive a job cut, the emotional landscape can change. 'It’s like I woke up and I’m in a different country,' said a person who has worked for Merrill Lynch for more than two decades and has weathered a recent round of layoffs there.

He described widespread anger, mistrust and angst at Merrill, both among those leaving and those staying. 'People are reeling,' he said. 'The culture has turned. It is a nasty culture.'"

Everybody should listen to AC/DC now and then:
Businessman, when you make a deal
Do you know who you can trust?
Do you sign your life away?
Do you write your name in dust?

[don]

Elaine: Amr (American Airlines) said we
dont have a playbook for 110.00 barrel of oil.
There not alone.....

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Yes, there is some real nastiness out there, a lot of ...BITTERNESS....

I was amazed at the rage thrown at Obama for telling the truth back then. Since that day, the bitterness levels have risen significantly. Along with this rides the Four Horsemen who tempt us to fix things in the stupidest way possible.

[Christina]

Dear Elaine,
This article sums things up pretty well. http://www.kitco.com/ind/Turk/turk_may262008.html . The US dollar is done. No ones gonna save it. The Global power elites want to destroy the USA. They are succeeding in their plan of borderless communities. God help us.

[Patrick O'Meara]

Christina the Global power elites want to destroy all nations. Watch that great movie Network (1976) it says it all in the scene where Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty) lectures Howard Beale (Peter Finch) on the ways of the new world. "There are no nations Mr. Beale only corporations.....
Elaine maybe you could post that scene.

[Bah]

Wouldn't it be better to stop the speculation in oil with drastically increased margins or trading restrictions instead of raising interest rates to the roof? At least at this moment in time? Yes, interest rates should be 5% or higher, but raising them to that level would not stop this speculation, right?

I was trying to enlighten some 20-somethings last night about the fundamentals of the fractional banking system, government enforced money monopoly fraud, and how it is the source of inflation, speculative bubbles and increased debt on all levels. Wow, what hard work it is to hold someone's attention on such a topic! Our young minds have been totally blacked out to such things. Anyone have any good one-line shockers that could help grab the attention of these people?

[Buffalo Ken]

If you want a one-liner, forget it. There are none. But the young minds sure enough comprehend what we are in the midst of. They know. The question is, what to do?

I still think no debts. Everyone should try to eliminate all debts. If you presently have no debts, then you are in the best situation because you can choose not to become indebted.

It might mean living in a tent for 10 years. It might mean something else. But, I think it would be a wise choice. A good way to prepare for the future.

Peace,
Ken

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

The only way to stop the speculators from getting loans is to have the Fed sop up all this extra dough via high interest rates! Alas! THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

In other words, if they get a 8% or 12% return on savings in a bank, the money will go there. And won't go into commodities which are RISKY. If the Fed was smart, they would have kept rates slightly above the rate of inflation.

THEY DID NOT. It is now several hundred basis points BELOW the rate of inflation. So no one saves money the old way. They want silver dollars, gold coins or oil!

[Buffalo Ken]

If I could get 8% or more, I would just put all my money in the bank and let it get that. For what it is worth (which may be minimal), I agree. We just need these rates to get things back where they belong.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Plus I think this. I think commerce has to localize. It makes so much more sense this way.

There will obviously be global communication, but commerce is best when it is local.

It just makes the most sense this way.

Peace,
Ken

[Bah]

You are right, higher rates is the way to permanently fix the situation. I was starting to think like the money men, believing that we needed to also minimize the housing pain and depth of this recession. But you guys are right. It is better to get it over with in one big fast correction and stop this nonsense of negative returns on regular savings accounts.

[Buffalo Ken]

Hey - it is Memorial Day, and me as a young 42 year old, I am just sitting here. Here is waht i think - Memorial for whom? For whom should we be memorializing. I honestly do not know.

I could have gone on, but my wife just came in here so now it is time for me to go. Peace to the rest of you.

Quantum is how it is going and in my opinion this is going to happen soon. In the next week or month or year or even sooner.

Don't most of us recognize that it needs to happen. I think we do.

Peace,
Ken

[Bah]

The vast majority of people I meet do not comprehend the fraud and fundamental instability of the banking system, and it is very difficult to get them interested in the 10-second time frame where they actually listen before drifting back into their own thoughts. Knowledge and understanding is rapidly growing among a minority, but so too is the amount of time people devote to the combination of mind polluting garbage on TV, video games and self-absorption in myspace and facebook.

The fundamental flaw in the system being the concept of interest. In that it creates a system where the total payment obligations are always greater than the amount of money in circulation, forcing either bankruptcies or the need for exponential growth. We all are aware that the planet in finite and exponential growth can not continue much longer.

Secondly, it seems necessary to have a physical item such as gold or silver as the basis of money because from history it appears that humans will never be able to permanently resist the temptation of increasing the money supply.

Laws can and have been made to restrict the money supply, but it eventually all such laws get eroded as history is forgotten. A law could also be made to not let someone graduate high school until they understood monetary systems and their failed histories, and more laws could be stacked upon that. With a stack of laws and educated people a stable system may be possible without gold or silver, but we would still have to trust the few people that create and watch over the money not to lie or cheat.

Education is the first step to finding agreeable solutions, and we are very blessed to have Elaine and others who spend their time writing, thinking, and in doing so educating. But there is an urgency to educate as many people as possible because of how quickly we have/are coming to fulfill Jefferson's prophecy "the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Along the lines of localization as a solution, what do you think about Habitat for Humanity's no interest loans as a model for an alternative community banking system? In such a system new "money" is only created to balance the creation of an object (in this example it is a house) of equivalent value. The problem with this is that it is limited by the ability of humans to cooperate. We have been divided and isolated to such a point where it is now difficult to reach simple agreements let alone decide as a community what or whom is worthy for a loan.

[Robert Sczech]

If the oil speculators are responsible for the rising oil prices (which I doubt), then we should applaud their actions. The insanity is not in the high oil prices. The insanity is in the incredibly high oil consumption. The world burns more than 80 million barrel of oil per day. The US alone burns more than 20 million barrel per day which translates to 10,000 gallons per second (20,000,000/24/3600*40). That is crazy. At that rate, the oil will be gone in 30 years if not sooner. What is desperately needed is not lower oil prices. We need much higher oil prices in order to bring down oil consumption substantially. The remaining oil should be preserved so we have a chance of building an alternative energy infrastructure. And building an alternative energy infrastructure will take more than 30 years.

Why is so difficult to understand such an obvious fact?

[GMG]

Dear Elaine,

I'm going to raise an idea that I'm sure is very unpopular and provactive. I don't endorse the affirmative of this point-of-view, but I would like to bring it up for discussion.
Could someone say that the US is "generous" to "allow" the Middle East countries to have the oil under its soil? Would seizing it ever be considered a justifiable act? The Carter Doctrine stated that oil was a matter of national security but I don't know if it ever made it clear how aggressively our government would pursue this end. This may be tested in the months and years ahead. As a nation and world of laws, how does this square up? Would our actions rest on the "Law of the Jungle"?

Thank you for the valuable content,

GMG

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Dear GMG, WWIII will be very ugly. 2/3rds to 3/4rs of all humanity will be killed within the first 24 hours. All the major cities will be infernos. All the oil wells will be blown up.

Afterwards, those of us who know how to knap rocks, shoot bow and arrows, make spears and such will rule the world. Luckily, I have those skills as well as swords and full steel armor...my poor horse died the other day but can be replaced.

So going for the oil via our military isn't very recommended. We got away with it in Iraq ONLY because China and Russia were not ready to choke us off for this. But they made it very, very clear, stealing more oil is OUT OF THE QUESTION. Period.

End of story.

Robert: 100% correct! Thank you for all the details. Every gas guzzler, every house that consumes lots of energy is a money pit. We are the biggest oil users on earth and the PENTAGON is the biggest energy user of any entity on earth, tremendous amounts of energy. And we are the deepest in debt. We have negative savings. Biggest trade deficit in the world.

This is totally wrong and has to be corrected and NOT via war.

[Michael]

I believe Buffalo Ken is asking the key questions.

Not, Should or should not the Fed raise interest rates?

Nor, Should or should not oil be cheaper or more expensive?

These are not useful questions, because no one reading this blog can affect any outcomes in the level of interest rates or the price of oil.

The key questions are:

Do I have any debts? Do I have any savings?

If the answer to the first question is no, move directly to the second question. If the answer to the first question is yes, STOP EVERYTHING! Pay of those debts!! IF you have both savings and debts, use your savings to pay off the debts, since your savings may be at risk (yes, even Treasuries and FDIC insured accounts), while you are GUARANTEED to make money (at the rate of interest you owe) by paying off your debts.

If you have no debts, and the answer to the second question is no, STOP EVERYTHING! Start saving as much money as you possibly can - get assistance in budgeting and saving if you don't know how. Everyone can save something.

If you have no debts and are saving, you are in the most secure group of people on earth. All you need to do is be careful about saving.

Those of us old enough to remember the period from 1966-1979 know that as average prices rise, and oil suddenly skyrockets, and interest rates are lower than the rate of inflation, there is a temptation to invest in precious metals, oil, art, etc (because at such times these things may appreciate faster than other things - including interest on bank accounts). That works out for those who bought BEFORE most of the price increases (it also works for those who buy stocks, real estate, or anything else early in the formation of a bubble). Everyone else will get screwed, because the probability is that the exaggerated prices will drop back - not to their beginning levels, but much lower than their peak levels. People who buy assets, (including commodities and bullion) BECAUSE their price is rising, are market-timing speculators. This is gambling, not creating security. Many people bought gold in the late 70's at $700/oz, $800/oz, and $900/oz telling themselves they were "hedging" against inflation. By the early 1980's gold was under $300/oz, and it has taken TWENTY FIVE YEARS for gold to get back to break-even nominal value with what they paid. Buy some gold coins to hoard if you're worried about Nuclear War or the End of Civilization (that was a common rationalization in the 1970's), but don't plan to use them before the apocalypse.

The main secret to individual financial security in times like these derives from self-discipline. The domestic and international economy are giagantic, and outside of normal individual's practical control - so don't try to outwit them. To paraphrase Charles Kindleberger, "Other than outright greed, the main reason people make risky speculative investments [in Tulips, stocks, real estates, commodities, bullion, etc] is because economic circumstances change [e.g., inflation] in a way that threatens to reduce their standard of living; instead of making the necessary adjustments [reductions] to their standard of living, they seek higher returns than are consistent with safety, and the longer they manage to achieve those returns the less unsafe it seems to them and the more unsafe it actually is."

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

I explained that in the past. Yes, Michael, you are quite right!

Even more interesting: I have bought real estate when interest rates are quite high. Over 9% mortgages. But the PRINCIPAL is very low! This is because prices drop rapidly. Then, when interest rates fall, the value shoots up and you can sell for a huge profit and when you are done paying off the PRINCIPAL, you get a huge bonus, more like 100% profit in more than one case.

But that is the important thing: you do have to risk buying at high interest rates. I did this by putting down a 50% deposit. Then, when I sold, the profits were high and if the property dropped further, I wasn't pressured to sell, just for example.

Cash is a good thing sometimes. On the other hand, I only saved money in banks during high interest rate times. About 75% of my life, it wasn't worth it, putting cash in banks. They were a rip off.

Now, it is far worse: only once before was it more than 300 basis points below the real rate of inflation [as it was calculated in the early 1970's]. Today, the 'inflation rate' is totally fake and even so, the Fed rate is over 100 basis points below the fake inflation rate! OUCH.

And thus: easy lending for speculators who use it to create...inflation.

[Anthony]

War with Iran is coming!

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE28Ak01.html

The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear.

[Buffalo Ken]

So folks should be allowed to move money out of their retirement funds in order to pay of the house - with no tax penalties. Then many houses could be paid off and the debt burden could begin to ease in one way that would help many. I know that I would like to do this, but it currently is not an option.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

I said a long time ago, I don't think a war with Iran is going to happen. It would be suicide. We do not need that. Do we?

I don't think so. I hope our so-called "leaders" can get a grip.

Peace,
Ken

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Ken, the banks need us to NEVER pay off ANY loans! You see, the loans they hold are called 'assets' and if we change this to savings in banks, the banks call this 'debits'!

For home owners, paying no mortgage is pure gold. Why?

The money for a mortgage can be turned into 'savings'. And banks will have to pay US for the money, not we pay them for some money! I personally live with no mortgage now. I used to keep a token mortgage for tax purposes, around $32,000. But when my husband had to prematurely retire, I paid off everything and now am debt free since we get not tax advantage anymore.

Timing is everything! No one should have any debt on a house after age 50-55 years old. This gives a good 18 years to pile thousands of dollars a year into some financial savings plan that isn't at a ridiculous interest rate. For example, with my $32,000 loan costing me around $365 a month, this represents over $5,000 a year if there is no mortgage, to put up as 'savings'.

Unfortunately, we are now on a fixed income and the savings grow less and less as the price of all necessities skyrocket. Social Security gives a laughable amount for inflation, like 1-2% a year! While inflation has roared along for years now!

[Buffalo Ken]

You know I bet there are a bunch of "old farts" (no offense intended) who could retire now and then do something better with their time.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Because think about it, if you have enough to retire and pay off your debts, then why not. Why not get out of the "game" and get to know your neighborhood.

You know what I am saying? Do you?

[PLovering]

Israel invaded Lebanon with 3500 tanks and complete control of the air -- and was stopped dead.

Even Buber was impressed.

Short of a Hagee rapture, or an Israeli death wish, an Iran War is off the table. IMHO.

[PLovering]

Paul Van Eeden made the argument on CNBC this morning that the inflated price of oil is almost entirely due to increased money supply and falling dollar.

Paul Van Eeden of Cranberry Associates in Toronto is a very well-respected analyst in mineral and mining stocks.

[Under Armour Socks]

I like the tactical gear because I can wear it for work and for working out.Fits nicely and is comfortable.Very good at moisture wicking.This helps keep me dry and my shirt dry.

[Supra Shoes]

I want all the stuff about Season 3 and I want no more loan comments! Now-se!