LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rallied to a fresh record high above $92 a barrel on Friday as the dollar tumbled to a record low, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran and gunmen shut more oil production in Nigeria.
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Oil's bullish momentum has pulled in increasing amounts of speculative investment and waves of technical buying have been triggered as U.S. oil pierced successive lines of resistance.
At 8:46 a.m. EDT U.S. crude was up $1.14 at $91.60, off a record $92.22. It is closing in on its inflation-adjusted high of $101.70 seen over the course of April 1980, a year after the Iranian revolution and at the start of the Iran-Iraq war.
London Brent was up 93 cents at $88.41.
Institutional money has been flooding into oil and other commodities since the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates in August.
"It's more or less nobody wants to be short in this market," said Markus Mezger, who manages investment portfolios at commodities hedge fund Tiberius.
But sentiment is now overheated and the supply/demand picture is not so supportive.
"We don't find that prices are supported fundamentally above $80," Mezger said. "On the demand side, the world economy might not be in such a good shape," he said. "Supply is increasing from OPEC from November on and we think there might be a second decision to increase output again."
This might tip the balance of the global oil market into a small surplus for the fourth quarter, he said.
On Thursday the United States placed new sanctions on Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, and accused its Revolutionary Guard of spreading weapons of mass destruction. Iran is at odds with the United Nations over its nuclear programme.
An attack on a Nigerian oil rig operated by Italian firm ENI (ENI.MI) shut 50,000 barrels per day of production and reminded investors that Africa's biggest producer is a long way from restoring order and normal output in the oil-rich delta.
WEAK DOLLAR
Unprecedented weakness in the dollar has been another factor driving prices of dollar-denominated commodities higher.
In anticipation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may cut interest rates next week, the dollar hit fresh record lows against the euro and a basket of currencies on Friday.
While U.S. oil has surged 50 percent since the start of the year, the price rise in euros lags at 38 percent.
Moves by central banks to cut interest rates and pump billions of dollars into financial markets to ease a credit crunch have added fuel to oil's rally. Since mid-August, when the Federal Reserve cut U.S. rates, oil has climbed 30 percent.
At the same time the U.S. and European asset-backed commercial paper market has shrunk by some $400 billion.
Analysts said investor positions in U.S. crude options suggested traders were betting on further rises. A wave of call, or buy, options kicked in on Thursday as U.S. oil broke $90.
"The next big layer of call open interest is sitting on the $100 a barrel strike and this will become the next target if current dynamics allow U.S. crude to rise above $95," said Olivier Jakob of Swiss-based Petromatrix.
In his view, prices are being driven by option dynamics and supported by U.S. policy towards Iran. In an edgy market bullish headlines were being over-amplified, he reasoned.
Higher prices have so far had a limited impact on economic growth and demand but investors are alert to signs the U.S. housing slump is spilling over into the broader economy.
There are some indications of a slowdown in China's demand growth, another big driver of oil's rally.
The gap between world prices and low state-set Chinese prices have pushed refiners to cut runs, leading to some diesel pumps running dry in the southwest of the country.
China's apparent oil demand grew at the slowest rate in 20 months in September, up just 0.3 percent from a year earlier.
(additional reporting by Jane Merriman in London and Annika Breidthardt in Singapore)
пятница, 26 октября 2007 г.
вторник, 23 октября 2007 г.
9/11 and The Crazy and D*ckish Liberals Making Me Look Bad.Posted By GRUT on 10.22.2007
9/11 and The Crazy and D*ckish Liberals Making Me Look Bad.Posted By GRUT on 10.22.2007
Related Topics: Politics
I was watching Real Time With Bill Maher a month and a half ago and on his panel was rapper/actor Mos Def. I'm a fan of his music and I think he's a great actor so I was interested in what he had to say. I was a bit surprised to hear this exchange taken directly from www.billmaher.com.__________________________________________________
MOS DEF: So, it's like - it's - you know, it's the difference between what's legal and what's fair and decent and, you know, just, on the universal sense. I mean, I hear the whole thing—
MAHER: But, you don't want to get blown up by a bomb.
MOS DEF: I don't think I'm going to get blown up - listen, I'm black in America. I live under constant pressure. I don't believe in that boogie man shit. Them - they ain't doing shit. You know, I don't believe in that shit. If somebody wants to do some shit to you, it ain't - they doin' it! Them motherf**kers ain't talking about it, sending you tapes: "I'm gonna f**k you up when I see you!" [laughter] [applause] You hear what I'm saying? Man, somebody wants to get you, they're gonna get you!
WEST: [overlapping] They're just gonna do it. They're gonna do it.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] And you're gonna feel - they ain't gonna send you no damn video messages: "Yeah, bitch, it's me!" [laughter] No, I don't believe that shit. It's - the shit that motherf**kers be passin' off. I don't believe that was Bin Laden today. I don't believe it was never him. I think it's some dude just standing - I don't even - I can't even believe—
MAHER: [overlapping] Come on.
MOS DEF: I don't. I don't. [applause]
MAHER: [overlapping] You know what? That's where you lose me, my friend.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] You know, I don't. Listen—
MAHER: [overlapping] And I'm so on your side. But, you know what?
MOS DEF: [overlapping]—you go to - you go to any barbershop, I am so not alone. I am so not alone. [laughter] [applause]
MAHER: That doesn't mean you're right.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] That don't mean—
MAHER: [overlapping] That don't mean you're right. [voices overlap]
MOS DEF: [overlapping] It don't mean it is not valid, neither. Science - highly-educated people in all areas of science have spoken on the fishiness around that whole 9/11 theory. It's like the magic bullet and all that shit.
MAHER: And what - and what happened?
MOS DEF: I don't believe these motherf**kers been to the moon, neither. But that's just me. [laughter] [applause] __________________________________________________
The next week on Real Time With Bill Maher he addressed the issue in his New Rules segment.
__________________________________________________
MAHER: New Rule: Crazy people who still think the government brought down the Twin Towers in a controlled explosion have to stop pretending that I'm the one who's being naive. How big a lunatic do you have to be to watch two giant airliners packed with jet fuel slam into buildings on live TV, igniting a massive inferno that burned for two hours, and then think, well, if you believe that was the cause…[laughter] Stop asking me to raise this ridiculous topic on the show and start asking your doctor if Paxil is right for you. [laughter] [applause]
__________________________________________________
Then on last Friday's show the crazy people who believe that the government brought down the Twin Towers and crashed a plane into the Pentagon got their revenge. Four to five protesters interrupted the show, yelling at Bill for his cowardice in ducking the topics of Building 7 and the rest of their insane theories. Due to lacking security detail it took about five minutes to clear out all of the psychos who probably celebrated this as some kind of victory.
I was scared shitless by that meeting. The two reasons that liberals will never be taken seriously met face to face and fought with each other for the world to see on youtube. Bill Maher is not what I aspire to be as a liberal. He is educated, he is funny, but he is also so smug that he openly and happily dismisses the majority of country as morons for believing in any kind of God. People like him are the reason that Godless is a dirty word in politics. He's not a bad person, but when you treat 80% of the population with disdain they're going to hate you and what you represent right back.
On the other side were people who aren't satisfied saying that the Republican party has exploited the worst tragedy in the history of our country to get oil and help out their corporate buddies. No, see, that's not bad enough. The Republicans (or the Jews, or in conjunction with the Jews) had to be the cause of it. I guess looking at the situation like that makes what the GOP did somewhat worse, but just barely. When you're so mad at a corrupt and abusive government destroying the value of the dollar while spending trillions on a war without end in sight, I guess it's not hard to jump from evil beneficiaries to evil evil-doers. But you need to not make that jump, because making that jump turns you from a rational human being mad at the government to a nutcase wasting your life on crazy talk.
Anyway, our Godless and nutties went at one another. Nobody won. The protesters got kicked out and Bill rightfully but offensively called everyone in the Vatican nuts for believing a picture of a fire resembling Pope John Paul II was somehow a miracle. Don't get me wrong, it's really nuts, but why say it except to continue to give religious people a reason to hate liberals? The worst of us was on display there.
I'm not here to defend 9/11 really happening. People have taken theories without hard evidence and turned them into incontrovertible facts. You can't argue with a person who believes in a false theory with every fiber of their being. It's like saying a picture of a couple of trailers could be anything when someone else is saying they're mobile anthrax factories and we need to go bomb the hell out of them. It's like when the President said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and the reason the UN couldn't find them was that the UN was a useless institution. "How can you say that? Your only proof Iraq has weapons is that the UN isn't doing its job?" "Yes! Do you see now? Iraq has weapons of mass destruction!" The difference between that and this is with 9/11 the entire country saw what happened. There's no stronger argument then, "Did you see what happened? Were you watching tv? The planes crashed into the tower, fires burned uncontrollably and the buildings then fell." If someone has seen that and is still convinced it was some kind of conspiracy, what the hell do you say to them? No it wasn't?
Life is hard. Bad things happen. People attack others because of religious beliefs and social status. We unfortunately got a taste of what happens to all militarily dominant nations. The far left and far right have taken this sad day and used it to further the insane fervor on both sides and avoid the truth. The lie that supports your side is more fun. It's easier to swallow. But this one, believing that 9/11 was caused by the government, it's too far. It's why I haven't gone to a political rally in a long time. I don't want to be associated with these people, and a few always pop up at every rally.
Liberals, we need to stop shitting on God and start believing Osama Bin Laden blew up the World Trade Center. I'm not saying you need to go to Church or temple, but you need to stop thumbing your nose at those who do. The best defense against people who will fight you on gay marriage and abortion can be found in the good book because it's the only way you'll reach them. And if we're going to call ourselves the rational ones we need to act that way. Otherwise we're not just as bad as the people who got us into this mess, we're giving them ammunition to get us in deeper.
Related Topics: Politics
I was watching Real Time With Bill Maher a month and a half ago and on his panel was rapper/actor Mos Def. I'm a fan of his music and I think he's a great actor so I was interested in what he had to say. I was a bit surprised to hear this exchange taken directly from www.billmaher.com.__________________________________________________
MOS DEF: So, it's like - it's - you know, it's the difference between what's legal and what's fair and decent and, you know, just, on the universal sense. I mean, I hear the whole thing—
MAHER: But, you don't want to get blown up by a bomb.
MOS DEF: I don't think I'm going to get blown up - listen, I'm black in America. I live under constant pressure. I don't believe in that boogie man shit. Them - they ain't doing shit. You know, I don't believe in that shit. If somebody wants to do some shit to you, it ain't - they doin' it! Them motherf**kers ain't talking about it, sending you tapes: "I'm gonna f**k you up when I see you!" [laughter] [applause] You hear what I'm saying? Man, somebody wants to get you, they're gonna get you!
WEST: [overlapping] They're just gonna do it. They're gonna do it.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] And you're gonna feel - they ain't gonna send you no damn video messages: "Yeah, bitch, it's me!" [laughter] No, I don't believe that shit. It's - the shit that motherf**kers be passin' off. I don't believe that was Bin Laden today. I don't believe it was never him. I think it's some dude just standing - I don't even - I can't even believe—
MAHER: [overlapping] Come on.
MOS DEF: I don't. I don't. [applause]
MAHER: [overlapping] You know what? That's where you lose me, my friend.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] You know, I don't. Listen—
MAHER: [overlapping] And I'm so on your side. But, you know what?
MOS DEF: [overlapping]—you go to - you go to any barbershop, I am so not alone. I am so not alone. [laughter] [applause]
MAHER: That doesn't mean you're right.
MOS DEF: [overlapping] That don't mean—
MAHER: [overlapping] That don't mean you're right. [voices overlap]
MOS DEF: [overlapping] It don't mean it is not valid, neither. Science - highly-educated people in all areas of science have spoken on the fishiness around that whole 9/11 theory. It's like the magic bullet and all that shit.
MAHER: And what - and what happened?
MOS DEF: I don't believe these motherf**kers been to the moon, neither. But that's just me. [laughter] [applause] __________________________________________________
The next week on Real Time With Bill Maher he addressed the issue in his New Rules segment.
__________________________________________________
MAHER: New Rule: Crazy people who still think the government brought down the Twin Towers in a controlled explosion have to stop pretending that I'm the one who's being naive. How big a lunatic do you have to be to watch two giant airliners packed with jet fuel slam into buildings on live TV, igniting a massive inferno that burned for two hours, and then think, well, if you believe that was the cause…[laughter] Stop asking me to raise this ridiculous topic on the show and start asking your doctor if Paxil is right for you. [laughter] [applause]
__________________________________________________
Then on last Friday's show the crazy people who believe that the government brought down the Twin Towers and crashed a plane into the Pentagon got their revenge. Four to five protesters interrupted the show, yelling at Bill for his cowardice in ducking the topics of Building 7 and the rest of their insane theories. Due to lacking security detail it took about five minutes to clear out all of the psychos who probably celebrated this as some kind of victory.
I was scared shitless by that meeting. The two reasons that liberals will never be taken seriously met face to face and fought with each other for the world to see on youtube. Bill Maher is not what I aspire to be as a liberal. He is educated, he is funny, but he is also so smug that he openly and happily dismisses the majority of country as morons for believing in any kind of God. People like him are the reason that Godless is a dirty word in politics. He's not a bad person, but when you treat 80% of the population with disdain they're going to hate you and what you represent right back.
On the other side were people who aren't satisfied saying that the Republican party has exploited the worst tragedy in the history of our country to get oil and help out their corporate buddies. No, see, that's not bad enough. The Republicans (or the Jews, or in conjunction with the Jews) had to be the cause of it. I guess looking at the situation like that makes what the GOP did somewhat worse, but just barely. When you're so mad at a corrupt and abusive government destroying the value of the dollar while spending trillions on a war without end in sight, I guess it's not hard to jump from evil beneficiaries to evil evil-doers. But you need to not make that jump, because making that jump turns you from a rational human being mad at the government to a nutcase wasting your life on crazy talk.
Anyway, our Godless and nutties went at one another. Nobody won. The protesters got kicked out and Bill rightfully but offensively called everyone in the Vatican nuts for believing a picture of a fire resembling Pope John Paul II was somehow a miracle. Don't get me wrong, it's really nuts, but why say it except to continue to give religious people a reason to hate liberals? The worst of us was on display there.
I'm not here to defend 9/11 really happening. People have taken theories without hard evidence and turned them into incontrovertible facts. You can't argue with a person who believes in a false theory with every fiber of their being. It's like saying a picture of a couple of trailers could be anything when someone else is saying they're mobile anthrax factories and we need to go bomb the hell out of them. It's like when the President said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and the reason the UN couldn't find them was that the UN was a useless institution. "How can you say that? Your only proof Iraq has weapons is that the UN isn't doing its job?" "Yes! Do you see now? Iraq has weapons of mass destruction!" The difference between that and this is with 9/11 the entire country saw what happened. There's no stronger argument then, "Did you see what happened? Were you watching tv? The planes crashed into the tower, fires burned uncontrollably and the buildings then fell." If someone has seen that and is still convinced it was some kind of conspiracy, what the hell do you say to them? No it wasn't?
Life is hard. Bad things happen. People attack others because of religious beliefs and social status. We unfortunately got a taste of what happens to all militarily dominant nations. The far left and far right have taken this sad day and used it to further the insane fervor on both sides and avoid the truth. The lie that supports your side is more fun. It's easier to swallow. But this one, believing that 9/11 was caused by the government, it's too far. It's why I haven't gone to a political rally in a long time. I don't want to be associated with these people, and a few always pop up at every rally.
Liberals, we need to stop shitting on God and start believing Osama Bin Laden blew up the World Trade Center. I'm not saying you need to go to Church or temple, but you need to stop thumbing your nose at those who do. The best defense against people who will fight you on gay marriage and abortion can be found in the good book because it's the only way you'll reach them. And if we're going to call ourselves the rational ones we need to act that way. Otherwise we're not just as bad as the people who got us into this mess, we're giving them ammunition to get us in deeper.
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