If you have been following the world's Oil supply situation, the spread between Europe's Brent and America's WTI has made trading the American contract a freaking nightmare.  Nightmare... unless you are one of the midwest refiners buying your crude from Cushing... in that case its a wet dream.

American and international energy equities are the place to be if you want exposure to energy... and I want exposure to energy.

---------------------------------------

Did someone know that Obama was going to tap the SPR? Smells bad to me... of course, it could be a coincidence... but I don't believe in them for the most part.

--------------------------------------

Remember how the Feds said they needed the USA PATRIOT ACT to protect us from terrorists? In the final analysis, our Government used the 9/11 crisis to enact a permanent security state... there is NEVER an action without unintended consequences. EVER.

A society completely addicted to government programs will never be able to stand up to government.

---------------------------------------

Hey Feds: We don't need an Export Import Bank. There's another program that can go...

---------------------------------------

Another nail in the coffin of the War on Drugs. The criminal justice system in general, and Law Enforcement in particular, has been a total failure when measured against the goal of lessening drug use. I would assert that they have had a "boomerang effect". By securing convictions and prison time against a huge portion of the population these (the effect of a criminal conviction on an individual's economic future and the effect of putting young men in prison together... which gives them the time to form associations (gangs)...) our system has created an economic nightmare for the state and local budgets while doing nothing in the way of achieving their goals and actually increasing crime and drug use.  Way to go, fellas...

"That which is not measured is not managed."