Stock Markets Exposed
Why do we even have a world stock exchange/floor traiding system that affects the price of things like oil?
Milk is a natural product but we don't have what, from where I see it, is a pointless tier of city people determining its eventual consumer price. A farmer sells directly or to a reseller and that's it - deal done. Where and why did the stock market system come about, who determines what is traded and what isn't. Why don't we campaign to abolish it and let the likes of oil companies sell directly with no commodity exchange controlled prices influencing what we pay. This system is hugely open to abuse, as we see now. Why are traders some of the best paid people in society when they produce nothing, or provide any real service to society, just speculate with these abstract mechanisms. This is a genuine question, I'm not being rhetorical. It seems an institution/system that nobody questions while all attention is directed at, in the current case, the Shells BPs of this world. I just wonder whey the media and the greater society don't take it one step further in what we question.
Public Comments
- Because the financial industry is virtually unregulated in any way, and they pretty much run the country. "Free market" my as$.
- I agree with you, but then you would have to limit all commodity markets....the advantage of future trading in Oil is that buyers can buy oil at a price they will pay a year in advance, so for big companies like airlines, they know what the cost will be, rather than it going up and down on a daily basis and businesses want consistency...but obviously the traders are putting the money into anything which is priced in dollars, as the dollar is so weak, to they can buy commodity x today in X1 amount of dollars and sell the same amount for a profit later when the dollar has weakened...and when you are buying in millions of dollars there are huge profits to be made.
- Milk may be simply too perishable to be traded the way we trade other commodities. We DO trade beef, pork and other commodities in a market that works much the same as the oil market. We also trade wheat, corn and other harvested commodities the same way. The systems we have are used because they generally work. Unless you have a suggestion for a system that would work better and with fewer inherent problems, then I'd suggest you are simply bellyaching.
- Taxation without representation was a tenent of the founding of America...along with the separation from English rule...so explain to me how we are being represented...by speculators...by OPEC...by hedge funds...as we are being heinously gouged constantly by those who profit from gambling with our dollars then justifying it as acceptable. I know they are called "brokers"for a reason...but using offshore loopholes to avoid fair regulation would have been treasonous not so long ago. And the next time you hear someone bragging about making a "killing" in oil, remember that American's are being harmed for this ghastly profit. My wife told me once"if you want to know what God thinks about money...just look at who he has given it too".
- I just watched CNN’s international Channel(3pm EST), breaking the news that oil price spikes again. But the anchor and the reporter assert it is China’s diesel demand contributed to the hike. Waited a sec ! It is already THIRD time I am hearing CNN’s assertion of China’s diesel demand. The first time was about two weeks ago. What’s going on? Then, Israel’s-Iran-attack-drill news flashing back-------Which Was Just Happened This Morning ! That “unmistakable signal” is surely an act to have a consequence of oil supply disruption ! Why is it not reported as a oil spiking cause ? ! Time to scapegoat China again before a major offensive ? To verify, I went to CNN web site , there it is : China hikes fuel prices http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/20/news/international/china_fuel.ap/index.htm China to raise energy prices http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/19/news/international/bc.as.fin.china.energyp.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008061912 But nowhere saying that Israel’s-Iran-attack-drill will unstablize the oil supply region, causing the oil price up. For Israelis Iran Strike Drill see http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1213794287750&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
- I am a big player on oil trading, from Wall street firms like Morgan Stanly or Goldman & Sachs, etc. I bought millions and millions of barrels of oil when they were in the range $60--$100 a barrel. I expect to make a kill when I sell. But right now it’s only $135 a barrel. Following are my difficulties. Please advise: Difficulty 1) Congress is now investigating on oil speculation, but if I sell right now, I would not make a large profit. Unless the price is in the range of $160--$200. My agents already feel the spin out to the media : “Oil future looks high, expecting in the range of $200” But it seems not working price up as fast as I expected Difficulty 2) Saudi Arabia has raised production. China has raised its domestic gas price by 17% to curb the demand. But those measures would drive the price down. How do I counter them ? Difficulty 3) How do I play scapegoating game well ? How do I make a handsome profit while without being responsible for the oil price hike ? Recent Israel Iran-Attack drill would disrupt oil supply region. But Israel is US ally. And media and think tanks would not permit it. Difficulty 4) How about playing the US old scapegoat China ? The recent feeler that “ China is the second largest oil consumer “ seems spinning well. Nobody questions that China is actually importing less oil than Japan, and much less do they know what is net import on oil. What do you say? Please advise
