"White House, Let Market's Magic Work"
By James J. Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist
8/24/2004 8:16 AM EDT
"Reminisces of a true economic operator. That's what I miss right now about the Clinton White House: the trading savvy that the place had. With oil now on the ropes, today would be the day that Bob Rubin would tell Bill Clinton to unleash the reserve. With so many speculative longs out there, with so much oil held by the wrong hands, we could see oil swing back down to $31-$33 and the election would be Clinton's!
Of course, Clinton isn't running. President Bush is so decisive that he can't possibly ever be a trader; every instinct he has is buy-and-hold, regardless of what the market requires.
So we will get nothing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve except a continual, "Fill 'er up," even though the oil man in the White House knows that we have taken oil way too high vs. where it should be, if we could just allow the market to work its magic a little better.
Maybe, just maybe, Bush is an environmentalist. Maybe he wants oil so high that we stop using it. The problem, though, is that the "tax" goes to OPEC, not to the Treasury. And OPEC wants for us to stay hooked on oil.
I am thrilled that oil has come down four or five bucks of its own volition. That last parabolic move was unsustainable. But if we are going to have a real rally, we need oil under $40. Don't laugh -- a few months ago, talk of $40 oil was astounding. Now, though, four firms just this week and last raised oil to the mid-$30s. If you want to see the market take off, let oil go through those raised targets. If you want to see it stall, let oil stay above $40.
You may hate Bill Clinton. You may hate the Democrats. But give them this: They knew how to bluff and they knew how to trade. "
(in
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