Give an example of how this(your scenario)could come about.
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Well, now that I think about it, I cannot give you any scenario in which a group which is collectively worth 100 trillion dollars could drive up or down the price of anything.
You, my friend, already have a very keen and savvy understanding of economics. I could tell by your use of the term ‘supply and demand’. That went way over my head.
You are right. I am wrong. There is no way possible to manipulate the price of oil or anything
I will end with this; oil is bought with money, money is a fantasy, money is only worth what people believe or perceive it is worth.
Of course the price of a commodity can be regulated and it can be done by regulating the supply not by a process of bid and ask on the commodity. For every bet on prices going up there is a bet on them staying static or going down. For every buyer there must be a seller. But these bids one way or the other are based on the actual or perceived supply.
For Obama to benefit from a drop in price there must be a large increase in supply. Increased drilling, refining etc would do that but at the expense to him of the loss of votes from the Environmentalists and Luddite coalition.
“I will end with this; oil is bought with money, money is a fantasy, money is only worth what people believe or perceive it is worth.”
So is oil worth what someone is willing to pay, in this case the speculators. It is only worth what they BELIEVE it will be worth based on their perception of what the future holds.