Real Estate Market / Inflation / Recession / Depression (Denver, Fort Collins: mortgage, loans, foreclosures)

[sterlinggirl]

Oil is still at $129 a barrel. Gas is still $4.10 a gallon at the pump, and your natural gas bill will still be 50% higher next winter than it was last winter. Great news!!!!

We ran out of stimulus checks to prop up the oil prices so demand finally fell. Now they're talking about a second round of checks going out, and you can bet when they do, everybody will run out to fill their gas tanks, causing another 'unexpected' drop in inventories that will drive up the price again.

[sterlinggirl]

It's nice when the Dow goes up from time to time. I'd invest in it, if it wasn't denominated in monopoly money.

It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't true.......

[LBear]

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

Oil is still at $129 a barrel. Gas is still $4.10 a gallon at the pump, and your natural gas bill will still be 50% higher next winter than it was last winter. Great news!!!!

Actually, they just reported that gas prices should come down to the upper $3 level. IF they continue to drop, they will come down even more, it just takes time for it to reflect at the pump.

Natural gas?? I live in AZ. We don't need no stinkin natural gas. Sort of. We use it to heat the gas boiler but otherwise....

Remember, I left CO because I hated the weather along with other CO things?

[Mike from back east]

If the "enron loophole" (that allows speculation in commodities) were closed today, I'd expect oil to be back down to $100/bbl by Fall.

[jazzlover]

One of the great "myths" of this time period is that speculation alone has led to $140/barrel oil. There is some of the increase that can be attributed to speculation, but most of the increase is plain supply and demand. Simply stated, there is no excess capacity in the production/refining system worldwide compared with current demand. You have to ask yourself the question--in the face of strong demand, why are the oil companies not building refineries like crazy to capitalize on it? Don't be "shined" by the answer that it is because of the US's environmental regulations. They could build refineries any many places around the world to cater to worldwide demand--including that from the US. They aren't building and there is a reason. They KNOW that economically recoverable reserves of petroleum are declining worldwide. Why invest in large new refineries that will run out of feedstock long before the refinery's construction costs can be recovered? Indeed, we will probably see the opposite, as declining petroleum feedstocks for the refineries cause those with the "shakiest" supplies to become economically infeasible to continue to operate.

Oil prices have declined very modestly in the last few days simply because of demand destruction. All across the world, those least able to afford oil are dropping out of the market. In the US, that means some people temporarily reducing their consumption; in the Third World, it likely means some people starving. I say temporary in the US because we have, so far, done nothing to even begin to permanently modify our living arrangement to use less petroleum. So, as soon as the price drops a little, demand will once again tick back up--and so will prices. We will continue to play this very self-destructive little game until we Americans get it through our big, fat skulls that production alone--if it ever happens--will not solve the problem, and we accept the fact that we are going to have to modify our lifestyles to use less fuel--permanently. Until then, the dollar is going to continue to sink, inflation is going to gnaw at everyone, and we will continue selling our assets (companies, factories, farms, etc.) to foreigners to feed our habit--a slow, but inevitably suicidal course to follow as a country.

Americans need to read this, from an expert, over and over until they "get it":

http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/...%20Atlanta.pdf

[sterlinggirl]

Credit card defaults are on the rise.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

[Bob from down south]

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

Credit card defaults are on the rise.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Yep, and the AH action is pretty hairy tonight. Should be interesting in the morning.

Wachovia announced a shut down of their wholesale mortgage ops as of the 25th. That's a nearly $450 billion operation. Doesn't bode well for mortgage seekers. Wouldn't be surprised to see the FDIC bus rolling up to their doorstep one day soon, either.

[Charles]

Sobering article in this morning's LA Times Business section:

Why the oil crunch may grow worse - Los Angeles Times

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[CosmicWizard]

Good article ( http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/...%20Atlanta.pdf ) jazzlover! Thanks for the link.

LBear wrote: any good news is worth telling.

Especially when it is so hard to find these days. It's almost like finding a gold nugget.

[MN2CO]

Originally Posted by Charles

Sobering article in this morning's LA Times Business section:

Why the oil crunch may grow worse - Los Angeles Times

(use Bugmenot.com - login with these free web passwords to bypass compulsory registration if you need a login or password)

Thanks, Charles, very helpful!