The Energy Report: Tell them to take a flying leap.

By: Phil Flynn

Published: Feb 29, 2012

On leap day in a leap year, Washington wants the American people to leap to false conclusions. Once again the brain trust in Washington is trying to help you by wasting more of your money. It seems that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in its infinite wisdom, has opened a new investigation on whether oil producers, refiners, traders and others have manipulated petroleum prices. This of course comes after scores of other investigations and one that just ended last September where they found out those high crude prices were behind the high gas prices.Duh! I don’t know about you but I am tired of these worthless investigations at the expense of the taxpayers so some politician can share his outrage and try to win a few political talking points. Enough already!


Anyone who reads my daily Energy Report or watches the Fox Business Network knows why gasoline prices are high and we do not need some politically inspired waste of paper and money telling us why! The main reason is what they found in the last report and the report before that! Crude prices are up! They are up due to the risk of war. They are up because of embargoes and panic buying. They are up because around the globe paper money is being devalued. They are up because refineries have closed and they are up because of EPA regulations and the removal of the ethanol tax credit! Investigation finished and it didn't cost the tax payers - you and me - one dime!


Call your Congressperson and your Senator! Let’s quit wasting money on these investigations. The American people deserve better and we deserve the truth. We are sick of the phony outrage by some politician trying to feel our pain. We are tired of the misinformation like oil companies or speculators are to blame so the American people can’t make the correct choices at the polls to really improve the situation. Oh, perhaps that is what they wanted all along.


Oil prices opposed to taking out $110 area decided to bust as I wrote might happen on Monday. While the risk of war with Iran is still high, the New York Times article about America's intelligence on Iran’s intentions seems to be casting some doubts. Some are worrying that the US intelligence may be too complacent on Iran because of the mistakes made in Iraq. Still the talk making the rounds were the not so surprising story that Israel would not give the US warning before an attack. Military officials are worrying about a missile war between Iran and Israel that could disrupt shipping routes in the Gulf.


Still what was amazing is that oil was able to stay lower for a second day in a row even as the ECB went on a euro dollar printing binge! With the ECB Injecting a whopping 529.5 billion euros into the EU banks, you can be sure that they are liquid but you can’t be sure that they are solvent.Yet it is getting harder to ignore that based on the MasterCard Spending Pulse report that an uptick in demand and an uptick in US consumer confidence it might be hard to keep oil down for long. Yet if Iran headlines stay benign then oil is still overpriced.