Dow Drops Below 10,000, Oil Hits New High

[hadrons]

Oil Prices Reach Record High and Send Stocks Lower, Pushing Dow Back Below 10,000


NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices reached a new high and sent stocks lower Monday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials back below 10,000. But with trading on Wall Street light and losses only moderate, investors seemed to be coming to terms with near-$50 per barrel crude.

As a barrel of light crude for November delivery settled at $49.62, up 74 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, stock investors grew more fearful that rising energy prices would slice into corporate profits. Monday's close for crude broke the previous record settlement price of $48.88 set Friday, and prices reached $49.75 earlier in the session, marking the highest intraday trading level ever recorded.

However, analysts believed that Wall Street, which sold off substantially last week in response to oil's climb, had found a bottom and that some investors believed a year-end rally might be possible.

....

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040927/wall_street_17.html

[troubleinwinter]

1. ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION,

oil prices are the highest since 1981.

[Renew Deal]

2. The release of 1.5 million barrels from the oil reserve

is strictly political.

[mhr]

3. The US Uses 20 Million Barrels Per Day

1.5 Million barrels would be gone before breakfast was over.

[LuminousX]

4. I have to disagree

the loan of the 1.5 million was to fill the gap caused by the hurricanes in the refining process. Slight political elements exist, of course, but I have to agree with using it. The hurricanes caused an interruption in the delivery of crude oil to the refineries and the 1.5 million barrels, while not meeting the normal capacity the refineries normally get, will help prevent a temporary spike.

[indepat]

10. I wonder if the oil companies will get the oil free or at least at the

lowest price paid for any oil in the reserves with the reserves likely being rebuilt with $50 or more per barrel.

[Renew Deal]

13. They have to return the oil

Plus a few barrels of interests.

[rock]

5. and Bush continues to suck

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

6. and why is it that the price of gas...

continues to stay the same when normally the slightest increase in oil prices sends gas through the roof (at least in southern california). and does anyone besides me think that the price of gas will go through the roof on november 3, no matter who wins?

[Lefty48197]

7. The economy is strong, and getting stronger

Why is that so hard for you Democrats to see?????

[HFishbine]

8. "some investors believed a year-end rally might be possible"

After the Shrub is defeated. The stock market is down year-to-date (bet that comes up in the debates) and it's heading lower.

[SpiralHawk]

9. Thanks a pantload, Chimpee

This is another fine mess you've gotten us into.

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men (and women) are afraid of the light." - Plato

[Deja Q]

11. Wait until natural gas peaks. Unlike oil, gas drops off VERY quickly. And

while we're, inflation-wise, paying less for oil now than we were in 1986, that's only going to encourage more waste and lead to a GREATER crash. H2, anyone?

[troubleinwinter]

12. Gas prices. Has he EVER suggested conserving? Nah.

"What I think the President ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots. The President of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the (oil) price."

- Governor George W. Bush,
January 26, 2000
_______________________

March 18, 2004

Bush Administration & Rising Gas Prices
Rising gas prices raise several questions about President Bush, his energy policy, his ties to the oil and gas industry, and his commitment to a campaign promise in 2000 to get OPEC to increase output.

The industry would like you to believe that increased demand and reduced supply are the main culprits.

But a Public Citizen study disagrees. In their view, gas prices are high due, in large part, to anti-competitive behavior of the five companies that now control half of all domestic oil production, half of all domestic refinery capacity, and nearly two-thirds of the retail market in the United States: ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP-Amoco-Arco and Shell.

And a New York Newsday article notes that profits have been more than healthy for oil companies. For instance, "In its 2003 earnings statement, ChevronTexaco Corp. reported that profits doubled from the previous year, driven by the price increases in oil and gas. The company made more in the fourth quarter of 2003 than in all of 2002."

Many find it unsettling that all of this occurring in a climate where the oil and gas industry is giving millions and millions of dollars primarily to the Republican Party and the Bush Administration has secret meetings with them to hammer out its energy policy. It makes the perception that Bush is being bought by oil and gas industry hard to shake. It also begs the question: why can't an administration filled with Texas oil men work with oil companies, OPEC, and other players to reduce prices in a way that helps businesses too? Reportedly Bush claimed that he would be able to do just that in 2000.

http://usliberals.about.com/b/a/073145.htm