Why doesn't America just go to a 4 day 40 hour workweek. You'd save one day of commuting energy right off the bat. I think most people could actually do more work in a 4 day week because you'd spend a whole lot less of your workday arriving and leaving.
My company has recently let us start working 2 days from every week, just because gas prices are so high. A buddy of mine gets to WFH 3 days a week. I think the trend is picking up and more and more companies are offering it.
Do you really think that congress is going to do anything that would possibly make G.W. Bush look like he did something right? Congress is just going to put those issues on hold, until Obama is elected, and in the meantime, blame Bush for everything that he does or does not do, whether it relates to the president or not. Politics as usual.
I wish I could speculate that the work in my shop will be slow next month, and then I could justify raising the labor rate, and keep it there even after business picks up. Since I have the only shop in town, people are forced to pay my fees anyway, so I'm not worried about customers taking their cars down the road.
can someone please explain to me how speculation works..just a real short plain explanation nothing to long. also..why is it used in oil prices? whats the purpose of speculation?
just came across this http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080629/saudi_giant_oil_field.html my friend works for aramco and he says saudi arabia can produce more than 15 million barrels aa day if needed with still undeveloped giant oil field that will come online next year. im willing to bet that oil prices will come down big time in next two years so if ur investing in oil stocks i would recommend pulling out soon because we are near peak prices.
Wow, this is hilarious. Hedgers are ok, but speculators aren't, eh? Well, who are the hedgers supposed to trade with if no one is willing to take the risk on the other side? Liquidity will dry up and things could be worse. And by the way, it is wrong for the government to say I can't invest my money in certain commodities. That is BS. Investing in energy funds is excellent protection against inflation and the falling follar, (both of which are also the governmen'ts fault, by the way).
Interesting question Cause to me. . they have basically let him do whatever he wanted all this time So for them to block him from doing something . .. is unusual Rocket River . . or so it seems. .
I will bet the farm that Aramco can NOT do that. Saudi will need to develop that large field to make up for production decline rates in their currently producing fields. Their water cuts are high there, which is a sign that production levels are no longer increasing. All of the big OPEC countries posture that they can produce way more than what they are capable of, so that they can get an increased allotment in the cartel's quota.
Basically it's just buying or selling oil contracts to make profit. Think of buying a share of IBM at $30 bucks expecting it to go to $40. It's the same thing. There are also "call" and "put" options they people can buy or sell which make things more complicated. Hedgers are different in that they are actually producing or buying oil, so they are locking in their price by buying or selling futures.
No...the people who can actually explain these markets are few and far between. I took a class on this, and the book was the smallest text book I ever bought in my college career. The professor didn't even know everything about it. From what I understood, hedges and futures dont have much to do with the actual price of oil. It was explained to me that it was basically a bet. You won if the prices fell your way... They have futures on everything, and to say that the futures are causing the price of oil to go up is dumb. I mean, they have futures for weather now...but its not costing me money when it rains. Companies buy futures and hedges to basically cut down on what may happen in the future right? I dont know I could be talking out of my arse on this because, again, it is very confusing and no one understands how it exactly works. The majority of people who buy futures, i can bet aren't getting rich off of it, and if they are, they are very lucky. They probably invest in oil futures to reduce the impact that oil prices have been having on other stock (like airlines or something).
There are many people who understand it. Get a subscription to the Wall Street Journal or join an energy trading company. They know what they are doing.
When you buy a future, you are agreeing now to buy something later at a price you agree on now. So, to speculate, you agree on a price now (strike price) that you think is lower than it will really be at that time on the free market (the spot price). Then, when the time comes, you can buy at the strike price, sell at the spot price and pocket the difference. So, it's a bet you know the future price better than the market does. Example: Widgets are $10/ton now. I want to speculate by buying a ton 1 year from now. The futures price on widgets is $15/ton. I think the price at which people will actually be able to buy them a year from now will be $20. So, I agree to $15 now, thinking I'll make $5 a year from now in profit (20 minus 15). Instead, a year later the market tanks, widgets cost $5/ton. I buy for $15, sell for $5 and lose $10. The futures price is tied to the spot price, cost of storage, and expected volatility in the price. So, spot prices affect the futures price, but it is less clear how the futures price can impact the spot price.
