Balta1701

QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 15, 2005 -> 10:31 AM) My jaw dropped on Sat when a fricking Citgo was up to $2.70. ANy of you people who know about this stuff see any relief in the near future? Are they ever gonna go down or is this just a sign of the times? It's possible that there could be some drop in oil prices in the fall. It's also possible that aliens could attack the earth and conquer it. Right now, there are a number of factors playing into oil prices. First of all, there is probably still a $10-$15 "security" cost being built into oil prices, in the sense that there are enough people out there who feel that a supply disruption somewhere in the Middle East other than Iraq (which is already disrupted) is a real possibility. The only way to get rid of this built-in cost is to find some way to generate real security in the Middle East. Right now, Saudi Arabia's infrastructure is still viewed as at risk. We're threatening Iran. Al Qaeda still has the capability to attack oil infrastructure. And Iraq is a complete disaster area. If some of those threats were to be removed, it might help. But sadly, that is not the real heart of the problem. Remove that, and oil probably still stays in the $50+ range. Why? Because the age of oil has ended. Take a look at this graph from CNN. 1 thing should be totally obvious to anyone who looks at it: demand has finally outstripped supply. Oil is a very inelastic market. In other words, dramatic increases in prices do surprisingly little to stem demand. If the price of some food at the grocery store went up by a factor of 2.5 over 2 years, you'd probably switch to some other food. But with oil, that can't be done. A finite amount of people still need to get to work. People keep buying Hummers, and they're not cheap to replace. Even if gas prices keep going up, very few people will suddenly start biking everywhere. The reality is this; the world cannot produce oil any faster. A few months ago, the Saudis said they'd try to increase production again and release more barrels of oil; and the oil they released was very heavy, poor quality stuff, not the traditional Saudi light sweet crude that we've been guzzling for so long. Saudi Arabia is pumping as fast as they can. They might be able to squeeze a little bit more out at these prices, but the reality is either their production has peaked or it is very close to peaking, and their production cannot grow fast enough to keep up with demand. On top of that, there really are no new sources to tap. People have not made major finds anywhere in the world in years. The growth of oil supply simply cannot keep up with the growth in demand, and therefore the only thing that can happen is there must be pressure placed on the demand side to stop it from growing. The only way this can happen is throguh increased prices. And since prices have to go up a lot to slow down demand in oil, there's no reason to assume oil won't keep going up. $75 a barrel may not be out of the question in the next few weeks. The fall may see some reprieve, because demand in the U.S. does drop somewhat after the summer is over. A very warm winter might help as well if there were to be one. But make no mistake; the age of cheap oil is over.

I think the Umps are still desperately hoping that they can get 1 more inning in.

Once again, it falls to the big man to come through for his team in a big game. Go get em Jon. Why do I feel so happy having him on the mound? Jon...you tear this team apart tomorrow, and there will be only 1 thing I can say:

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 03:06 PM) A good second this year is when DJ said "as long as you don't strap it on" (awkward 10 second pause)... "We got another email here..."

Look at the bright side...Now the Bears have a legitimate shot at Leinart.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 06:32 PM) The guy is a f***in stud, he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball all season. He had a bad game, unfortunately it happens. Here's viz...... Hate to say it, but since June, he's had too many bad games.

I'd almost have prefered a popup.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 06:28 PM) Odds of Crede popping up here???? Far too high.

Tie game. 5-5.

QUOTE(SouthsideNorthsideFan @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:39 PM) but didn't they just love Big Mo Vaughn there? I tell you what, they liked him more in Boston than in New York.

He Gawn! Ramirez will grab some bench.

86 pitches for Wells through 5.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:33 PM) You think Carl's heard the Griffey rumors as well? :rolly I think he's just batting RH, and he's shredded pitchers when he bats RH this year. He's hitting .315 against lefties, .237 against righties this year.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:31 PM) THough he does have a 3.64 ERA against them the past 3 years. Against the lineups the Red Sox have put out there lately, that's really really good.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:31 PM) I miss Timo as DH!

HOT CARL GIVES US IT BACK!!! OVER THE MONSTER!!!

QUOTE(GBlum27 @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:28 PM) GREAT CATCH URIBE Crede better f***ing reedem himself at some point He's well past due.

Thank you JUAN!!!!!

Ground ball to Konerko, force out taken at home, 2 outs, bases loaded, Renteria up.

Dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit to hell.

4-3.

You can't give a team full of this many good hitters extra outs. You just can't. When you get one, it's a gift.

full count...ugh Joe.

Not again....

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 12, 2005 -> 05:22 PM) Buehrle's going to have to start going inside on these hitters. Like I said, they have a great approach against Buehrle. Just as you say that Mark Brushes Mueller back.