Oil Profiteers: Goldman Sachs Or Exxon Mobil ?

The debate rages over $140 oil. Is it supply/demand and an oil industry windfall or Wall Street manipulation--- or both ? At least motorists can get a tank of gas from Exxon. What do motorists get from suspected oil futures manipulators like Goldman Sachs?

In the past 12 months Exxon Mobil had gross profit of $172 billion. It's net was $42 billion. The average wage of its 82,000 employees was $12,000 per year. By comparison in the past 12 months Goldman Sachs had gross profit of $88 billion. It's net after salaries and bonuses was $10 billion. The average wage of it's 26,000 employees was a staggering $622,000 per year.

Since 2000, Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street brokers have successfuly lobbied for a liberalization of oil futures regulation . Goldman has consistently wrote investment advisories predicting dramatically higher oil prices while simultaneously building large proprietary long postions. At the same time Goldman and others created large pools of pension funds and investors to buy oil futures for their respective portfolios and thus take advantage of the liberating new regulations on oil futures. The net result is higher oil prices without a shortage as the reason. And a large part of the revenue from increase in prices going to the criminals at Goldman and their investment pool accomplices.

Interestingly present Secretary of Treasury and former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson, said," The rise in oil futures is strictly [because] supply/demand." He is also against re-regulating the certain parts of oil futures trading that he had lobbied to change some years back while at Goldman!

NASCAR, IRL & Big Oil

Last year Exxon Mobil's profit was a staggering $ 40.6 billion. That was only one oil company. Was there price gouging in the oil industry? Probably. Should the U.S. fix abusive price gouging with central planning and profit controls? Has anyone met a central planner a.k.a. civil bureaucrat that was competent, value added and more interested in you rather than keeping his or hers own job?

How about an exciting free market entertainment experience and tutorial on the challenges and rewards of less gas consumption ? How about NASCAR and IRL approaching Big Oil to at least double the prize money awarded during the racing season? The extra purse would be called a holistic prize . I.E the extra money would go to the fastest average speed coupled with the lowest consumption of gas. Both NASCAR and IRL would add a new interest in the competition and Big Oil could polish its public image with chump change contributed to the holistic prize money.

Speed does not seem to be the only focus of the 275 million fans that follow races on television. Talladega averages 188 mph while Infenion averages 81 mph. Racing tactics and use of the brain plays a more important role. And what could be smarter than winning more with less? The holistic prize approach would certainly invite innovation in different fuel use and surely hybrids. Also the fans could be reached in an effective and educating way.