Day July 23, 2008

Drop in oil prices possibly due to speculation

SemGroup just filled bankruptcy after a $3.2bn trading loss in commodities. Interestingly, they were short oil, meaning they expected prices to drop. But a wildly flucuating oil market combined with other traders smelling SemGroup blood in the water forced them…

Ways around the current short selling ban

Our federal government rode to the rescue recently to protect us from those nasty short sellers who were driving prices down. So far, so noble, right? Except the government banned a specific type of short selling called naked shorting, which…

House won’t sell even at $6,900

So they’re lowering the price to $5,000. It sold for $110,000 in 2005. This is in Flint, Michigan, where the foreclosure rate has soared. Speculators and long-term investors don’t want a three bedroom house for $6,900? Yikes.