Another day in paradise. Living' the dream. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Not at all. We've got it pretty good, considering. The price of oil is down, the energy industry is laying off people right and left and the prognosis isn't good. My own opinion about that isn't the same as most of the industry pundit/geniuses. My take on it; it won't last that long. How long I can't say, but the reason for it is the new technology making it possible to drill new sources and the market is 'flooded' with crude driving prices down. The kew to the solution is when will demand shift gears to start soaking up the excess crude. Presumably China's economic growth has slowed, Russia is in a recession (when are they not in a recession...), Europe also is in somewhat of a recession (actually it's more of an economic collapse for some EU countries) and global demand has slowed as the glut formed. Thus, the downturn in commodity prices. So when does the demand pick back up and what might jumpstart it, well there are a few things that might do that. The first that comes to mind is trouble in the Middle East. There's all kinds of ways that might kickoff, but we won't go into that. But if serious conflict such as a war, on any scale, were to start, believe me demand would go up, and quickly. Tank farms the world over would start emptying in short order. Another situation that might cause an uptick in demand, global economic recovery. Now, what would it take to spark something like that? Some major would powers electing some new leaders that were actually competent and had their nation's best interests at heart. Which is more likely to happen? You tell me.
Yes, our leaders are screwing things up for us. I wont go into listing specific items they are doing that are causing things to be messed up, this would become a very boring blog if I did. But who, that walks the planet have more influence on economic matters that affect our lives than Vlad Putin, B.O. Obama, David Cameron, Stephen Harper, Angela Merkel, Salman of Saudi of Arabia, Abdullah bin what's-his-name of Qatar... Who folks?
I'll tell you who, no one. I'm not saying all of these people are idiots, but I am saying this, and don't misunderstand me. Some of them are. Let me give you another dose of reality, and it doesn't matter if you're conservative or liberal, it is what it is. Our president is one of the idiots. In fact, he may be the leader of the idiot pack. He has done his best, and he doesn't have a lot of 'best' of anything, but he has done his best to undermine Bibi Netanyahu in the recent elections, unsuccessfully. Don't be alarmed, he's not really successful at anything when it comes to being president. And, he's doing all he can to pave the way for Iran to have nuclear capability. What a mouthful, huh? Iran, of all countries having nuclear capability. Any reasonable, educated person would know what the implications of that are. Then why doesn't the POTUS understand that? Another good question. The Ayatollahs, the mullahs, the jihadis, having nuclear capability, and the president of the United States of America enabling such lunacy. They're probably laughing till their thawbs are soaked in urine.
These are indeed sad and volatile times. And that's just the world stage. We all are going about our lives trying to pay the bills, keep our jobs, avoid cancer and things normal people do. It's not easy, life is never easy. One of my favorite sayings, crude as it may be is "Shit happens". Wow, does shit ever happen. The real problem is we have to keep on paying the bills, working, and dealing with whatever comes our way in spite of what these fucking morons do to make it harder. That is, unless of course you're one of those living on the handouts that B.O. doles out to those in need. I guess that's a topic for another day.
