marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sublimity Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > marcus phoenix Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > sublimity Wrote: > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > ----- > > > > YEAH! > > > > > > > > “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from > > > time > > > > to time with the blood of patriots and > > > tyrants.” > > > > - Thomas Jefferson > > > > > > > > > Wrong. This was a peaceful revolution. The > > blood > > > spilled was because of the pro government > hired > > > thugs. > > > > You are so extremely rigid in your thinking. > Not > > worth it arguing too much with you. > > > I am not arguing with you. Just pointing out that > you could have used a more appropriate quote than > one that has been coopted by some extremist > groups. K, gotcha. Fair enough.
Social networking has the power to bring down tyrannical and despotic regimes. Who would have thunk?
Looks like my oil futures took a beating after today. =(
It’ll come back. If peace breaks out, demand goes up, price goes up. If things worsen, supply goes down, price goes up. I’d be comfortable buying oil and gold now on dips, though the rosy scenario pushes the price up slower than the disaster scenario.
OT: I kinda feel guilty every time I purchase commod futures (or even ETFs on commod futures)… specifically oil. As candidates in the CFA Program we are meant to be investors, not speculators. I like to think of myself as a “short term investor” but I suppose that’s really just a sugar coated way of saying “speculator”. I bought a Double ETF on the 4th at a price of $7.13 CAD (ETFs which purchase futures with the objective to target twice the daily relative movements of the underlying commod… in this case oil. ) It’s sitting at $6.66 CAD as of today after Mubarak’s ousting. Crude supply rise throughout this week didn’t help either, but I’m hopeful that next week we’ll see improvements. I’ve been buying/selling Double ETFs for some time now (and for these things you SHOULD be a short term investor because a long run buy n hold strat for a Double is pretty much EXACTLY the same returns as on a Single ETF)… So I’m not too worried I supposed, but it’s always annoying having to hold the asset for longer than I truly want to… the opportunity cost can be devastating.
The problem is the copycats we’re going to see in other places, like Syria, Yemen, maybe Jordan, Bahrain, or Saudi Arabia. Egypt, despite what the protesters have been saying, is considered a much more open and “democratic” society than those countries. You may not get your freedom as quickly and in a somewhat civilized way (ignore the camel march for now) as in Egypt or Tunisia. It could really get ugly in those other places. Another thing is that the protesters think that democracy is what would get them out of poverty, which is a misconception.
I agree. One of the reasons they have been successful is that the Mubarak regime is not nearly as brutal as say the Syrian or Uzbek or other regimes. The second being that the US hasn’t fully stood behind Mubarak. Obama could have easily allowed Suleiman to crush this rebellion like in Andijan. The US could have also allowed the Iranian army to silence the revolution in 79, but indecision at a pivotal time cost them. The US will need to play an active role in Egypt, supporting various political parties to form a counterweight to the MB if we do see real democracy.
The protests did not start for economic reasons. The people who started this on Jan 25 were “upper-middle class” with internet access and a relatively good education, actually most of them were employed. The “poor” did not join in until much later. This was not a revolution against poverty, it was a revolution against corruption and abuse of power by a police state. As for other countries following Egypt, this is inevitable. Look back when the Egyptians kicked out the British colonists in the 50’s. Within 20 years all the colonists were gone from the region ( French, Italians, …).
mo34, I agree that the protests have become more for better government, etc. but that wasn’t how they started. Look back and you will see that they gathered demanding raising the minimum wage. Their agendas soon changed as the hyenas joined in. By the way, watch how much chaos those same hyenas will create going forward.
Palantir, That would be just too ugly for US to back Mubarak openly. Don’t overestimate US role, even though it should be further limited to mind its own business.