President Ford

While he'll never be seen as a great president, Gerald Ford did a decent job as president for the two and one half years that he served. He inherited gasoline shortages, a bad economy, the end of the Vietnam War, and the fallout from Nixon's resignation. The fact that he was unelected to the office didn't help. Ford, however, served admirably, and time has shown that his most controversial decision, to pardon Nixon, was really the right decision, as it put the Nixon legal situation to rest after a short time. The country faced so many other problems, it didn't need Nixon on the front pages every day.

Oil and Gas Prices

First published in December 2006


I saw a part of a special on CNN about oil, and a "possible" crisis, which, if I remember correctly, the show dates for 2009. I didn't see the entire show, but one of the things that interested me in particular was when members of Congress were asking oil company executives how oil and gas prices were set (this was in the Fall of 2005, I believe). Essentially, the execs claimed that they had nothing to do with the prices, that the prices were set by world markets. One Republican senator eventually said that he had not heard a satisfactory answer to how prices were set. He's not alone.

I wonder how many shares of stock these execs have in any or all of the oil and gas related companies? How often do they, or their investment people, deal in the oil and gasoline futures' markets?

Speculation has been running high for several years now and I can just imagine....

"This is breaking news on XONN, your 24 hour cable news source. I'm Dan Ratherbe, in Philadelphia.

It has just been reported to us by our local affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, that a man was adding a quart of oil to his car when the bottle slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, spilling the remaining contents onto his driveway. We'll bring you further updates, as they are available."

Ten minutes later.

"This is breaking news on XONN, your 24 hour cable news source. Hello, I'm Dan Ratherbe.

As reported by XONN a short time ago, a man dropped a quart bottle of motor oil in Cleveland while working on his car. Since that time, oil prices have soared more than a dollar a barrel. We now take you live to our reporter, Wolf Blitzkrieg, at the futures market. Hello Wolf, just what seems to be going on there with this price jump?"

"Hello Dan. Well, traders heard our report from Cleveland, and they said that this incident will contribute greatly to the world oil shortage, especially as OPEC just announced two days ago, that they are cutting production by 10 barrels a day. Another important development has come to our attention. We have gotten numerous reports that gas stations across the country are raising gasoline prices, even as we speak. All and all, a VERY news worthy day. Now, back to Dan Ratherbe, in Philadelphia."

"Thanks for your report, Wolf. Please stayed tuned to XONN for updates on this still developing story."

Does anyone feel that this might well be the way oil and gasoline prices are REALLY set? I think I'll email this to that senator I mentioned above. Hey, my answer is more credible than the answers from the oil execs, so don't laugh, and besides, I had to buy another quart of oil after I dropped that one. And remember the old saying, "Oily to bed, oily to rise."