Lazy Al

19 Comments

    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      Old Wizard,
      The Saudis did in fact welcome the American military in 1991, as did other the Arab countries. Saddam Hussein had made a career out of killing his fellow Muslims, and the Americans were certainly seen as the lesser of two evils at that time. The problems arose when we stayed long after the war had ended.

      I certainly don’t mean to portray Al Qaeda as “noble guardians” of Islam. They are radical extremists who twist moral and religious principles to suit their own narrow vision of a new world order. Nor do I think that the American military presence in Arabian Peninsula was remotely sufficient to justify the attack on the World Trade Center.

      For a brief time after 9/11, world opinion was largely in the American court. Even the Muslim world was horrified by the hatefulness of these attacks. But in the seven years since, the United States has squandered the opportunity to win hearts and minds, attacking first Afghanistan, then Iraq. The result has been untold suffering and uncounted thousands of deaths in these two unfortunate countries--in addition to another four thousand Americans lives lost.

      All for what?

      Aug 20 07:57 PM
    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      Mr. Old Wizard-
      Yes, Bin Laden and an overwhelming number of Saudis and other Muslims viewed the American military presence in close proximity of their holiest shrine as an outrageous and blasphemous provocation-- on the equivalent of a large, well-equipped Al-Qaeda training camp based in northern Virginia.

      Aug 19 10:27 PM
    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      Debka’s armada is tinker toys compared to this one…

      www.taphilo.com/histor...


      Aug 17 11:10 PM
    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      Mr. Fitzsimmons, you say “US/Israeli policy to secure Israel is almost assuring the destruction of Israel in the long run”.

      In 1938, Adolph Hitler opined, “Today I’ll be a prophet again. If international Jewry in Europe and abroad should succeed once more into plunging the people into a world war, then the consequence will not be the Bolshevization of the world and therewith a victory of Jewry, but on the contrary the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.

      I don’t mean to imply anything; just a historical parallel.

      Aug 16 10:06 PM
    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      Gerrymandering,

      Yeah, in fact I’ve sent numerous communications to my elected representatives on this very subject.

      They’ve either been ignored, or answered with a form letter--sometimes comically inappropriate. I wrote Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana to suggest I’d rather see the oil industry regulate the government than vice-versa and received an email which began, “Dear Fellow Hoosier, I fully understand your concern about rising gasoline prices”.

      Vox populi.
      Aug 14 09:11 PM
    • Oil Will Only Fall So Far [view article]
      I agree, the sector has become ridiculously undervalued. But even as I write this many energy stocks are probing new lows--again. It seems most investors would rather not try to catch the proverbial falling knife.
      Aug 14 01:05 PM
    • Has Exxon Topped? [view article]
      It’s become increasing difficult to correlate the price movements in the shares of the oil companies with that of the underlying commodity. For example, Exxon’s share price was higher when crude oil was $30 a barrel lower.
      Aug 07 02:49 PM
    • Crude Sell-off: Solid Entry Point into U.S. Oil Majors [view article]

      FourBane,
      You speak as if it were a small matter to discover and develop a 100,000 bpd wellhead.
      The international oil industry--and their numerous government regulators--are rapidly losing the option to drill at times, places and prices of their own choosing.
      It’s almost a certainty the world will rely predominately on hydrocarbon fuels for at least the next three decades; ergo, Priority One: Be certain we’ve enough oil, gas and coal for another thirty years. Priority Two: Start worrying about what about what the hell we’ll do when it’s gone.
      Aug 06 10:26 PM
    • Crude Sell-off: Solid Entry Point into U.S. Oil Majors [view article]
      John Pseudonym:

      I did look at the COP chart--along with the rest of the fundamentals of the stock--and to me it appears a strong buy.

      At seven times earnings, it’s selling at a huge discount to the general market. The stock is currently priced to reflect $75 crude oil. The fair valuation on the stock at current oil prices is a over $100 per share.
      Aug 06 04:51 PM
    • Does Big Oil's Apathy Justify Proposals to Tax Windfall Profits? [view article]
      From The Energy Information Agency:

      “Through 1972, Americans had become accustomed to expanding energy consumption with minimal concerns about the constancy of supply or sharp price escalations. In 1973, however, expectations about energy supply changed dramatically. The turmoil started early in 1973, as customers experienced electricity brown-outs and rapidly rising prices for fuels and other necessities.”

      From Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer-winning “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power” (1991)

      “Yet Hydrocarbon Man shows little inclination to give up his cars, his suburban home, and what he takes to be not only the conveniences but the essentials of his way of life. The peoples of the developing world give no indication that they want to deny themselves the benefits of an oil-powered economy, whatever the environmental questions . And any notion of scaling back the world’s consumption of oil will be influenced by the extraordinary population growth ahead.”

      From ExxonMobil’s 2008 Annual Report (“Long-Term Business Outlook 2008-2030”)

      “Oil, gas and coal are expected to remain the predominant energy sources with approximately 80 percent share of total energy. These well-established fuel sources are the only ones with the versatility and scale to meet the majority of the world’s growing energy needs over the outlook period.”

      Adage

      “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to relive it.”


      Jul 03 02:19 PM
    • ConocoPhillips' Price Breakthrough: Still a Bargain [view article]

      Not agreeing to Chavez’s terms cost Conoco $4.6 billion in expropriated assets and the loss of hundreds of millions of barrels of proved reserves.

      Mulva may have gained respect and admiration for his decision, but it will have a major negative impact on the company’s bottom line. Sooner or later, he will be offered less generous terms from other oil producing nations. Can he afford to walk away from all of them?
      May 19 05:41 PM
    • Some Big Oil Getting Bigger and Better [view article]
      Fitzman,

      I expect XOM will make an unusually generous (for XOM) increase to the quarterly dividend within a few days.
      Apr 30 09:19 PM
    • Some Big Oil Getting Bigger and Better [view article]
      The writer scoffs at Exxon’s dividend rate while failing to mention that Exxon’s stock has substantially outperformed both BP and Shell over the past two years.

      Dividends are nice, but they’re not the only gauge of success.
      Apr 30 03:59 PM
    • Exxon Mobil: Dividend Aristocrat [view article]
      Jan,

      XOM has “showed me the money”, in the form of a 100% capital gain over the past three years.
      Dividends are nice, but they’re not the only benchmark to gauge successful companies.
      Apr 24 08:45 AM
    • Exxon Mobil: Dividend Aristocrat [view article]
      Picture the political fallout from this headline: “EXXON MOBIL INCREASES DIVIDEND BY TWO BILLION DOLLARS!” The Dems would have a field day with that one. I think XOM is smart to use most of their outsized profits for share repurchases, at least until the election is over.

      They will be moderately increasing their dividend (probably $0.16-$0.20 per share) in a few weeks.
      Apr 23 04:38 PM
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