"bid up on futures alone" - these primitives really don't understand what they are talking about when it comes to futures trading, do they ? They just run in circles, like their hair is on fire when they hear the term 'market speculation'
Here is futures trading & market speculation DUmbed down for you lurkers.
Traders agree to buy/sell stocks or commodities (interest in raw material production) at a particular time for a particular price. They bet with their own and/or investors money that the value of a product is going to either go up or down sometime in the future. when the future arrives they buy at the agreed price - sometimes they win, and other times they lose.
The last time a majority of energy speculators lost was during the Gas runup during the Bush administration - many speculated the value of oil would drop, when it continued to rise. -- thats right -- speculators put DOWNWARD pressure on oil futures-unlike the current myth that you primitives, and sadly most Americans believe.
BTW, pressure is all speculation can apply to a market, they can either slow or accelerate a price on its way to the destination it was heading for already. Speculators cannot CHANGE futures markets - So, what can ?
The only real force in the market is supply and demand. Supply Goes up, demand goes down-as does price. The reverse is also true, supply goes down, demand and price increases. - So, why has oil risen ? Even though there is conflict in the middle east, it hasn't changed oil supplies all that much - so what has ?
Lets get to the real source of the current problem...Obama's economic policies.
The Obama administration has printed a tremendous amount of currency, as they believe that flooding the market with dollars will float recovery, stimulate hiring etc. HOWEVER, the USA is part of a larger international economy, and again, it goes back to supply and demand - there is a much larger supply of US currency out there now, making it worth less than it used to be. So, a US dollar is now worth less than a dollar to the international community- meaning it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of stuff from overseas.
Its kinda like the cliche "it's not you, it's me" - in this case, we have changed, not the oil.
BTW, this is also why the price of gold and silver has skyrocketed. There is a finite amount of metal on the planet, but the Obama administration seems to think that it can print an infinite amount of dollars to buy it. - Fun Fact ! Because of this economic policy, the US Dollar is worth less internationally than when it was allowed to float in the 70's. (meaning no longer backed by gold/silver)
Anyway, people have to spend more of their dollars on fuel, meaning they need to make up the difference someplace - either through cutbacks, or by spreading the additional expense to their consumers. And to add insult to injury, this devaluing has stimulated businesses to move out of the US entirely, and to export their goods to us. They can get more US dollars, then tuck them away for when the US currency rights itself (hopefully) making all those extra dollars worth more in the future...
...yes, this is also 'speculation' - thanks to Obama...
And there you have it -- supply and demand -- but not just oil -- US dollars are affected by it too. Obama has overproduced greenbacks, and now its coming round to bite him (and us all) in our collective asses.
