Saturday, May 24, 2008

Follow Up on FJ Prediction from February 11th, 2008


Back on February 11th, I predicted that we would be seeing $4 gas by Memorial Day. Here's a link to the previous post.


http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1336300683106618557&postID=2190842543631246914

BTW, the picture above is from a local gas station here in Santa Fe. As you can see, I was damn close in my prediction! Of course, at the rate oil is going up right now, I'm probably a week early on my prediction. But $4 gas is a reality now in many parts of the country.

Saudi Arabia and OPEC have us literally over a barrel right now. Poor pathetic Bush went to Saudi Arabia begging them to pump more oil, but why would they do that? Of course they said no, and they also told him that they don't like us devaluing our dollars like we've been doing.

They've told us they are going to raise the price of oil $4 (or 3%) for every 1% the dollar goes down in value. That's a pretty steep penalty but I'm still not sure that our leaders get it, yet.

Well, they get it, but they're doing the wrong thing. Congress is talking about suing OPEC, like that's going to help us get more oil. We've also got Hillary and Obama wanting to increase taxes to oil producers (which I think is a big mistake).

The biggest impact our Government could have on energy prices right now is to support the dollar. Just think what would happen if Bernake on Tuesday made a surprise 1% rate increase to the Fed Funds rate. Immediately, you'd have a flood of money move out of the commodity market and into dollars. Likewise, ending the war in Iraq and bringing the troops home would also be a big support to the dollar. Pipe dreams like a balanced budget would also work, but I'm not counting on that happening until China and Saudi Arabia decide they don't want to loan us money anymore.

In the meantime, the best way we can fight back is to use less oil. That means driving less, being more strategic with your errands so you can combine trips helps. Keep your car tuned properly and make sure the tires are properly inflated. If you're in the market for a new car, buy a more fuel efficient vehicle.

Oh yeah, call your congressmen and women and tell them you're not going to vote for them in November unless they do something to strengthen the dollar!

More predictions coming soon! They will be doozies!

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