May 22, 2008
Oil prices soared past $133 a barrel yesterday, signaling an economy on the verge of recession or something and whatever, just, please stop talking about money things for a second, experts warned.
“The high cost of gas going into the summer months can be directly attributed to falling oil supplies, a weak dollar and how can I continue to even talk about these things?” said Katherine Marks, an oil futures trader or what-have-you at Richmond-based Marks Capital Partners. “We can see technical signs that crude supplies will continue to fall, though the current problems in oil producing countries such as Nigeria could somebody please explain to me what I’m trying to say?”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average – which must be some sort of indicator – tumbled 227.49 points yesterday, though the meaning of those points is in all likelihood not related to a sports game.
Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index also dropped, probably quite considerably and measured in complex percentages, after news of a housing slump or credit crunch or some other form of oft-said economic terminology reported in the media.
Many investors said they were concerned about the way higher oil prices would affect the pocketbooks of consumers and corporate profits, as apparently – somehow and beyond everyday common logic – all these economic doohickeys and thingamajigs are ostensibly connected.
“Many investors, rightfully so, are apprehensive and quite fearful,” said Jarrett Cooney, an analyst at Peters Davidson Management Group in Richmond. “Apprehensive of what though, is unclear. The stock market, I would guess, though the fears could be tied to inflation, their kid’s college education, a next-door neighbor who continues to not trim his shrubs, or maybe even getting cancer.”
American consumers were just as leery of the grim economic forecasts, which they were told were not the same as weather forecasts.
“I’m hearing that $4 at the pump is really putting a strain on summer travel, going to bars with friends or buying things like clothes or food,” said Henrico County resident Charleen Desroches, 32. “Yeah right. Like the cost of gas is really tied to everything else I do. What a crock.”
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