Galt's Gulch
12

Oil futures - You actually would have to pay people to take it off of your hands

Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago to News
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Some major player or company just went under. This is an Atlas Shrugged moment like none other in the Trump era. This isn't a minor tremor. This is a tsunami-generating earthquake!

I wonder if Ellis Wyatt is building oil tank storage.

If I were trying to cause an economic collapse today like John Galt did in Atlas Shrugged, what happened today might be the way to do it.

I made money 25 years ago on unleaded gasoline futures. What happened today is going to be measured in the trillions of dollars, maybe more than that.

What I cannot understand is why no one has posted on this yet!
SOURCE URL: https://www.barrons.com/articles/oil-futures-fall-below-1-for-first-time-ever-51587406408

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  • Posted by mccannon01 4 years, 7 months ago
    During the C-19 update this evening Trump was asked about this. He didn't seem too flustered and said it was more of a financial "thing" of very short duration and the price of oil a month out was around $28 a barrel. He also said his administration is taking advantage of this temporary condition to fill the national oil reserves at a very good price. He had a kind of smirk on his face when he said some people lost a lot of money. It made me wonder who and if there was more going on than meets the eye.
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    • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
      Someone lost their shirt. I don't want it to be a hedge fund for a teachers' association that taxpayers would be asked to bail out! This is the sort of crap that got us in trouble in 2008.
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 4 years, 7 months ago
    This Is Why Oil Turned Negative, and Why It Will Be at $20 on Tuesday
    https://www.barrons.com/articles/oil-...
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    • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
      The key point is not why it turned negative. That part is pretty obvious, but who got killed by it?
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      • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 4 years, 7 months ago
        Isn't the "Futures" market a risky bet in the first place? It's like playing the lottery with a few statistics behind your bet.

        One does so, knowing he may lose bigly.

        So maybe the question should be...what force was behind making it go below 0 in the first place...maybe the same force that created the covin pandemic?..and probably the same force that will try to create a higher demand...like war?...and make a bundle in the process.
        Same ole story isn't it?
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          Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
          The futures market is extremely risky, but very rewarding to those who play it well. When I bet on unleaded gasoline futures going up in the spring and down in the fall because of seasonal demand, it was not a sure bet, but based on the history at the time, a relatively sure bet.

          The reason it went below zero is that no one has a place to store the excess supply!
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            Posted by $ Olduglycarl 4 years, 7 months ago
            And we know the cause of the excess supply...why would two competitors compete themselves into oblivion?

            I am wondering about the market for storage, as you say, the environ[Mental]ist have made that difficult...surprised no one has come up with a solution.

            Somewhere on this post, someone mentioned putting oil into played out wells. It's likely those wells will begin to refill if the notion that oil is actually created by bacteria deep in the earth and does not come from fossils, is true.

            Would have been the perfect place if not for those to things. (the origin of oil and the environMENTAList.
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              Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
              Olduglycarl, now you are thinking what I was when I saw this happening. If I were George Soros trying to collapse capitalism and put the world's wealth into my pocket, making the oil market collapse would be an excellent way to do that.

              Moreover, if the oil business collapses, it paves the way for an environmentalist "solution".

              This looks like something a carbon credit trader would do.
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  • Posted by CaptainKirk 4 years, 7 months ago
    Well, we are having a TOUGH time wrapping our heads around this.

    Black Gold... If that were true, people would not let it go NEGATIVE!
    But the problem is one of storage. If you have no place to put it, you have to keep it on the ship, which means RENTING the ship!
    Nobody can afford that right now.

    These are absolutely crazy times... Imagine being Saudi Arabia, and having to ask "How many barrels do we have to sell for 1.00 to break even?"
    I have asked friends in Russia how they think this will impact them. This would be different if it happened in the dead of winter...

    This is the season of demand drop off, and the refineries shut down to "fix things" (to keep prices up, LOL)...

    But IMAGINE being the person who said "Give me 10 futures at 1.00... How much can I lose?" And now they get the bill... And they are bankrupted.
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    • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
      You can lose an unlimited amount, even more than being bankrupted. Why this concerns me is that someone big is on the losing side of that bet. If it is a bank, then this could seriously cause a great depression.
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  • Posted by j_IR1776wg 4 years, 7 months ago
    If we consider that that incredible economic prosperity in the 20th century in America was caused by a combination of a high degree of Individual Rights, limited government, and an inexpensive, unlimited amount oil, then what are the chances of a return to prosperity in the 21st century filled with limited Individual Rights, Unlimited government power, and oil that costs more to produce than it can be sold for?
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 4 years, 7 months ago
    Well at $3 a barrel perhaps we don't know what to say!
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    • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 7 months ago
      It actually went down to -30 something dollars per barrel! Someone stopped a motor of the world today, but not the only one.
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      • Posted by edweaver 4 years, 7 months ago
        The motor of the world has been stopped by the many tyrannical governors. Unfortunately, I know this is not going to be popular but it's been fueled by Trump. As much as I like what he's done, he got between a rock and a hard place. If in the first 2 weeks of this, he'd realized how he was being used we wouldn't be here now. As it is, we are in deep trouble and if this doesn't change soon, so is Trump. They are going to use this to get all mail in ballots for the November election. It's over if they do. Of course I may be wrong but pretty close to betting my life on it.
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