Another explanation for the ongoing increase in gas prices.

'Axis of Anxiety' boosts fuel prices - MSN Money

__________________
A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

"As a result, Iran needs oil to be priced as high as possible, no matter what effect it has on its customers. So Ahmadinejad and his mullah cronies thought up the crafty trick of threatening Israel with annihilation. Since this has provoked Israeli leaders to counter with threats to strike at Iran first, energy traders are understandably on red alert at all times. Oil is priced not just for today's value to current users, but also includes a premium that accounts for the possibility that supply might be severely kinked in the future. No one really knows what that premium is -- pick a number between $10 and $40 per barrel -- but Iran has essentially bullied its way to tens of billions of dollars in excess oil riches. Who says crime doesn't pay?"

That is an interesting point. If you watch the news, when Ahmy is on TV and threatening or Israeli leaders are on TV threatening back you witness a panic attack. Stockbrokers run to the floor with flailing arms buying and selling oil futures. The price goes upward for the rest of us.

This is exactly why I have been advocating taking stockbrokers out of the middle. I have read several articled indicating they have double the price of gas currently. And as the gas prices have gone sky high, it has driven a sharp inflation increase across a wide range of goods and servicing. The working poor and elderly on fixed incomes that were barely surviving previously are now going under.

Oil and gas are directly related to devastating inflation and therefore should be put off limits for greedy speculators trying to making outrageous profits at the expense of the entire economy.

All I know it is costing me $ in my three stocks. I can't sell till they rise.

But good post Michael, thanks.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Michael, I agree with you. I strongly feel that certain public goods should not be subject to the vagaries of market forces. The speculation and market-playing is, to me, a clear case of profiting directly at the people's expense, and that doesn't sit well with me.

No idea how it could be done, but we can't continue to allow this to cripple us. Sure, I'll get yelled at for being a "nanny-state interferer", but when the kids are out of control.......

__________________
There is no sig. There never was a sig. The sig is a lie.