Had a rather interesting discussion with a friend of mine from New York. He is a bond trader, but his firm also has a commodity trading floor. He has heard persistant rumors that Oil Futures are being pushed higher by one or more speculators aggressively buying. While he could not be certain, he implied that one of the largest specultors may be Geroge Soros. For those that are unfamiliar with Soros, he is a billionaire who has been a huge contributor to the Democratic party. See below:
Billionaire brings crusade to oust president to Ohio
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Alan Johnson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
“Our security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is deteriorating,” George Soros said yesterday at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus.
Accusing President Bush of employing “the politics of fear,” billionaire businessman-philanthropist George Soros said yesterday that the United States is in more danger than ever because of the president’s misguided foreign policy.
“Our security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is deteriorating,” Soros told 375 people at a Columbus Metropolitan Club lunch at the Hyatt Regency. “Our fears and their rage feed on each other,” he said of the terrorist threat.
“There is only one way out: to change the leadership and change direction,” he said.
Soros, 74, who made billions as a financial trader and has given away half of it as a philanthropist, will give two more speeches in Ohio — in Cleveland and Toledo this month — as part of his 12-city crusade to unseat the Republican president in the election Nov. 2.
A John Kerry supporter, Soros said he has given $20 million to Democrat-leaning groups, such as America Coming Together and Moveon.org. He will pump $3 million into his personal tour, partly for extensive advertising and promotion of his new book.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/election/election-president.php?story=dispatch/2004/10/14/20041014-A8-01.html
Soros has recently been quoted as saying that the US economy is rapidly slowing:
George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, expects stocks to extend that decline because rising fuel prices and stagnant wages will stifle economic growth.
The economy is keeling over,'' Soros said in an interview. The stock market is in a long, drawn-out, very slow decline.‘’
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a_rx7WOK1C5Q&refer=top_world_news
Soros made over a Billion dollars in a week in 1992 causing the collapse of the British pound sterling. The implication of my friend is that Soros and his hedge fund are driving the price of oil up, stalling the economy in an effort to get Kerry elected. I don’t like conspiracy theories, but if this were to be true, it would certainly be a new chapter in American politics.