Which Horizon?
by ilene - June 8th, 2010 10:41 pm
Which Horizon?
Courtesy of James Howard Kunstler
Did the nation heave a sigh of relief when BP announced that their latest gambit to "cap" the Deepwater Horizon gusher will result in hosing up fifty percent of the leaking oil? If so, the nation may be sighing too soon since the other half of the oil will still collect in underwater plumes and hover all around the Gulf Coast like those baleful mother ships in the most recent generation of alien invasion movies. I shudder to imagine the tonnage of dead wildlife flotsam that will wash up with the tide for years to come. It will seem like a "necklace of death" for several states, though even that may not be enough to distract them from the more gratifying raptures of Nascar and NFL football.
For the moment we can only speculate on what the still-unresolved incident will mean for America’s oil supply. The zeal to prosecute BP for something like criminal negligence has bestirred a Department of Justice comatose during the rape-and-pillage of the US financial system. BP may be driven out of business, but then what? The net effect of the oil spill, one way or another, will be the gradual shut-down of oil drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico. New government supervision will make operations very costly, if not non-viable, and the surviving companies will probably pack up for the west coast of Africa where supervision is almost non-existent. Anyway you cut it, the US will produce less oil and import more — and have to rely on the political stability of places like Angola and Nigeria, not to mention the simmering Middle East.
So far, also, the US has done nothing in the way of holding a serious national political discussion about the the most important part of the story: our pathological dependency on cars. I don’t know if this will ever happen, even right up to the moment when the lines form at the filling stations. For years, anyway, the few public figures such as Boone Pickens who give the appearance of concern about our oil problem, end up down the rabbit hole of denial when they get behind schemes to run the whole US car-and-truck fleet on something besides gasoline.
This unfortunate techno-narcissism shows that almost nobody wants to think about living…
Spare Me The Sudden Outrage
by ilene - April 16th, 2010 5:23 pm
Feeling good about the SEC filing charges against Goldman Sachs? Maybe there is such a thing as justice after all? Smarten up, says Joshua M Brown, here’s how it goes. – Ilene
Spare Me The Sudden Outrage
Do me a favor…spare me the faux-populism and the sudden bouts of outrage, this garbage CDO factory stuff has been very widely known for a long time. When was Zuckerman’s Greatest Trade Ever book published? Last year. When did the New York Times start telling this story? January.
Now you’re angry? Now you’re outraged?
Here’s how it will all end for those unfamiliar with the process:
- Goldman will hire the best lawyers in the history of the universe, making OJ’s Dream Team look like Ally McBeal.
- They will make public statements about their "vigorous defense" while negotiating a settlement that will involve a large check and quite possibly the sacrifice of "Fabulous" Fabrice Tourre.
- Upon the writing of this check, Goldman will admit no wrongdoing and the White House will claim victory.
- Not one of you will be safer, more employed or in better shape as a result of any of this.
- The lawyers and PR reps involved in the case will buy Maseratis and vacation homes. Lots of them.
- Fabrice Tourre will be running his own hedge fund within 3 years.
- Everyone connected to this case will still have more money in the bank, in real estate and in investments than you could ever dream of.
- The sun will come up the next day, you will go to work, then pick up your kid at Karate, then pay the utility bill.
That’s it, folks. Let’s not pretend otherwise.


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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...









Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
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