Here in the deep south there is a tradition called "frog gigging". Gigging, is the hunting of bullfrogs by using a spotlight and then spearing them.
The recent profits by big oil is nothing more than gigging the consumer in the wallet. In 2005, Exxon-Mobil (XOM) posted record profits for the year earning (stealing) $36.1 billion from the consumer, a 43% increase over 2004. This was the largest profit ever recorded by a U.S. company.
It looks as if Senator Arlen Specter is on the war path. Will he win? I don't think so. He is going to run up against David Rockefeller, and Rockefeller owns everybody. There are a few untouchables in the U.S., and David Rockefeller is one of them.
David Rockefeller is the founder of the Trilateral Commission, the driving force behind the movement of globalism in our economy. For those of you who do not believe me, here is a quote from a letter he wrote to the New York Times on August 20th, 1980.
As founder of the Trilateral Commission and its current North American chairman, I am usually singled out as the "cabalist-in-chief".
At the time of the letter, Rockefeller was Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, now known as JP Morgan-Chase (JPM). In addition, the Rockefeller family's most important business stemmed from Standard Oil, now know as Exxon and its offspring, Mobil, Chevron,Phillips 66, and Marathon.
Specter is calling for a hearing to examine competition in the oil industry. What competition is he talking about? The break-up of Standard Oil is coming back together again. Exxon bought Mobil, Conoco bought Phillips, BP bought Amoco, and Chevron bought Texaco.
Specter said, "I am somewhere between impressed and astounded by these profits, and it raises big questions about whether something needs to be done in the merger and acquisitions field."
MarketWatch reported that " The industry has gone through a wave of consolidation in the past 15 years, with more than 2,600 mergers and acquisitions. The FTC approved the mergers after assuring itself that they would not harm competition. FTC Commissioner Bill Kovacic defended the FTC's approval process."
Do I think Specter will make any headway? No, but we may get enough of a sell-off in the oil patch to provide us with some attractive buying opportunities before the summer driving (hurricane) season.
Heck, even President Bush defended the profits of Exxon Mobil on Wednesday, by saying "they are simply the result of the marketplace and that consumers should not expect price breaks". Oh, thats comforting.
Lets see if we can get a pullback of at least 5-10% in Marathon, Sunoco, Valero, Conoco, and even Exxon. I like the idea of having these powerful forces behind us as the consumer continues to get gigged.
