[Aussie Dasher]

WE can only hope!!!

[Wiggins]

Wouldn't that make a mess.

[MikefromOhio]

Dear God,

Please let Mr. Forbes be correct.

thanks,

Mike

[woofie]

Should the bubble pop who could get hurt besides the speculators?..and maybe oil stocks?

[wardaddy]

one bubble i wouldn't mind

[RWR8189]

I'll tell you one thing...

I wouldn't want to bet against Mr. Forbes...

[Wiggins]

I hope so too. I just have my doubts. I could be wrong but it seems like every time oil goes up like this it never really comes down to where it was.

[Lejes Rimul]

Uh... did you actually read the article? This would be a very bad thing for most Americans. As much as high gas prices are a burden, I think people like the idea of having pensions when they retire.

[M. Espinola]

"So I'll make a bold prediction ... in 12 months, you're going to see oil down to 35-40 US dollars a barrel."

It could very well happen and be fund generated, when the hurricane season is over or even before, and there are no major supply issues in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere.

[FreedomNeocon]

Just another symtome of the information age if you ask me.

Suppliers get 'unexectedialy fast' info on the demand side, over-react and hedge the stock on the high end.

Seems pretty logical to me... though I forget 90% of people are morons (or at least 'blissfully ignorent' of the law of Supply & Demand)

Plus you can really screw yourself with the whole 'double-reverse-negative-thought-logic' and fake yourself into thinking people are REALLY UNDER-reacting.

But the smart ones... people like me... bet on people, overall, being stupid... at least for now.

[montag813]

"I don't think it's going to go to $US100 but if it does, the crash is going to be even more spectacular," he said.

Uh, and if it goes to $200 it will be even MORE spectacular. Sheesh, what a silly comment. Forbes should stick to the flat tax.

[snarks_when_bored]

Here's a radical idea: sell every barrel of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at cost to American oil companies, with the proviso that they can't mark it up to current market prices. Then make sure that the world understands that the U.S. no longer has a strategic petroleum reserve, and so, in the event of bad acts by oil producing nations, the U.S. won't have any qualms about stepping in to insure that there are no interruptions of oil deliveries around the world.

If I were Hugo Chavez, for instance, I wouldn't regard it as good news that the U.S. was no longer stockpiling reserves of petroleum. In fact, it would scare the crap out of me. The most dangerous lion is the hungry lion.

[Dustbunny]

Praying the Forbes is right!

[Dustbunny]

RECORD oil prices this week were evidence of a speculative market bubble

I keep wondering if this is Soro's manipulation of oil futures hoping to make dubya look bad.

[Porterville]

oil bubble... that I believe

[mukraker]

I have heard one more explaination that seems to make sense...because it follows the law of supply & demand.

Energy production runs 15-20-year cycles. That's about how long it takes to develop new technologies, production, & accceptance in the market.

The way it works is there is an energy shortage. Prices surge. The higher prices make new technology/new production fiscally attractive to the private sector. New energy sources are found and developed. The shortage turns into a surplus, and prices drop. But now we have all this new production capacity, more than can be utilized.

Over time, energy use/consumption catches up with that excess production/capacity. The supply/demand equasion reaches equilibrium. Then the demand side keeps growing, causing a shortage again. The cycle repeats.

We're at the stage where our demand has surpassed our supply side of the equasion. (Well, not really. Just at "reasonable" prices.) Even now, new technologies and new sources of energy are being considered, now that they're economically feasable. The supply side will catch up with the demand side soon.

[I_dmc]

Personally, I'd like to see the Strategic Oil Reserve full. The name should be clue enough for all. Concept: Just how does one fight a war when the first weapon used is the nation being cutoff from the it's supply of oil?

[anti-infidel]

Until the bubble keeps on growing, I will ride the bubble buying XTO and Lufkin.

[gpapa]

The oil bubble will burst. The gasoline bubble may not drop as much. No new refineries built in USA since 1976.

[Caipirabob]

I doubt this. There an election in 14 months. The elite rats will ensure that speculation continues to push the price of oil. This bubble won't burst until mid-November 2006.

[Ace of Spades]

Mass suicides on the NYMEX ensue. Can't wait!!

/grabs popcorn