The Dow had it’s record highest point gain today up almost 940.  Although it was up a bit today, Oil prices have been retreating and have been steadily below $90/bbl for several days.  And have you noticed the price of gasoline has also been declining?

Of course, we all know it’s not over yet, but it’s good to see some positive signs.  Unfortunately, the price of diesel fuel has not come down with trhe price of gasoline, apparently due to supply issues worldwide.  And this will keep the price of consumer goods general higher.  Seems like this ought to be a priority, and not just now but for the long-haul, that is to ensure that the availability of fuels needed to transport goods (diesel being …

The ban on offshore drilling expires tonight at midnight Eastern Time.  At this writing, that’s just five hours away.  

Congress was incredibly preoccupied during the weeks following its lengthy vacation, and could not (supposedly) get the work done to extend the moratorium on drilling for this oil.  Such a ban would normally have been included in the $600 billion stopgap funding bill passed last week, but would have likely led to a fight that would have shut down the government.  Instead of chasing that fight, they’ve left it up to the next Congress to address this issue.  Keep that in mind on election day.

Tomorrow (October 1) is known by many now as Energy Freedom Day.  This might be temporary, but we’ll take what …

Crude oil dropped to $105/bbl Monday, down $1.26.  After hours the price continued to fall, as of midnight it was hanging around $102/bbl.

Since hitting it’s high at 147.27 on July 11 (that’s still less than 2 months ago), the price has fallen almost 30%.  According to most Democrats, this would only be possible if actual cheaper domestically drilled oil were available to put into the system immediately, not some years into the future.  Strange as it may seem, it looks like other factors, such as the continued growth in the public pressure on Congress to act and open up domestic drilling, may also influence prices.

Of course, you aren’t required to be an economist to be a member of Congress.  The problem appears …

During Rudy Giuliani’s speech at the Republican National Convention tonight, the crowd got so stirred up on the oil drilling issue, they interrupted his speech for a couple of minutes while they chanted (I believe):

“Drill, Baby, Drill!”

It was another inspiring moment produced spontaneously by a group who clearly believe we should use and manage the resources that we own to take care of our country, instead of allowing other foreign interests squeeze us and manipulate us as they control the flow of energy that we need.

Drill, Baby, Drill!!!…

After dropping $10/bbl during the day, the price of crude settled down $5 after fears of interruptions in production from Gustav failed to materialize

It really stinks when people are disappointed that nothing bad happens.

That said, it appears we’ve dodged the bullet on the hurricane, although we cannot forget the loss of life and property that has occured.

But it is great news that oil production continues untwarted by the weather, and that the price of oil can continue falling.

When the price as down to about $105 (we closed around $110), at that point the price had lost all it had gained since the beginning of the year.

All that without actually pumping any of that oil out of ANWR or any new …

Sad to see, but true.  California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is appearing on a web site to promote “EcoDriving“.  Among his comments are that we should do…

Simple things such as maintaining proper tire pressure and avoiding rapid starts and stops, and keeping your engine tuned.

Gag me.  He preceeds the above comments with the standard liberal line that moving forward with implementing “biofuels, offshore drilling and nuclear power” will have no immediate impact on gasoline prices.

I’ve known for a while now that Arnold has tended to lean to the liberal way of thinking.  Now he’s reading the Democratic Party talking points.

And the talking points continue to deliver the biggest lie of all:

Americans aren’t doing what they should be doing to

…

Well, it’s official.  Barack Obama is now the first African American (am I supposed to still say that, or am I supposed to say “black” now?  I can’t get this Political Correctness down right it seems) to be nominated by a major party for President, as long as you don’t include Warren Harding, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and Calvin Coolidge.

Oh, that list surprised you?  If so, you may want to watch this video:

Regardless of whether the information in the video is true of not, Obama certainly IS the first person to receive the presidential nomination of a major party BECAUSE he is African American.

I am, in one regard, happy to see a person of color nominated.  Witnessing an historic event …

The price of crude is hovering around $115 / bbl.  At this point, I suspect it won’t make much motion, especially not downward, until some real action is finally taken by Congress to open up drilling.  I agree with the refrain of Republicans to do “all of the above”, that is, work the alternative energy agenda while opening update domestic drilling.  The market will continue to laugh at us on the alternative energy options (by the way, we’ve had Ethanol in the US since World War I, so let’s stop acting like alternative fuels are “new”).  But as we engage with definitive action, we will continue to see the impact on commodity prices.

The sad thing is that the market is so clearly expressing it’s …

In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, there is a report of an investment made by Nancy Pelosi and her husband.

They put somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 into T. Boone Picken’s company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

At first blush, the relatively small amount (compared to millions of dollars in assets held by the Pelosis) would make most consider this to be a non-issue.  And by House Rules this is evidently not a conflict of interest. And besides, everyone can see that Natural Gas and Wind Energy are the future of America, right?

That shows you how well our politicians police themselves.

$50,000, $100,000, these are not small sums of money.  Mrs. Pelosi may bandy about billions of our tax dollars with little thought, and …

Last week I started taking my bicycle to work. It’s about 7.5 miles as the crow flies, and my shortest (and most difficult) route is about 8.5 miles… the longest (and easiest) route is 13 miles.  Downtown Des Moines is at a slightly lower elevation than the suburb of West Des Moines where I live, so mornings aren’t too bad, just a one tough hill, and afternoons, when taking the longer route, is okay except for one really big hill.

I realize that this is not a big deal… the point is NOT that I’m doing anything that great.

But I am saving about a gallon of gasoline each day I do this. That’s about $3.50 a day.  At least that covers my coffee money.…