Apocalyse Now: Regime of High Oil and Food Prices

**jpdm** · May 28th, 2008 08:06 AM

....Record high oil and food prices are hurting the economies of alot of nations including the Philippines...the spike in oil prices has dampened our stock market, consumption and manufacturing...our trade deficit has increased and businesses are scaling back their expansion...

....The spectacular rise of oil and food prices are also now triggering mass actions around the world...

....The world is bracing itself for an impending socio-economic slowdown..

Manila Standard
May 28, 2008
AFP with Othel V. Campos
RP firms start scaling back expansion plans

PHILIPPINE companies are shelving expansion plans, cutting capacity and easing up on hiring new workers as the US economic slowdown and record-high oil prices take their toll, the central bank said yesterday.
A poll of 1,258 firms among the country’s top 7,000 companies showed fierce competition and weak demand as “key risks to business activity” in the three months to June, the bank said in a statement.
While there were more respondents with a positive outlook than negative, the “overall confidence index” was down, “consistent with the broadly more cautious sentiment of businesses and consumers in many developed economies.”
Separately, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said the Philippines’ import bill would kick up by up to 40 percent this year as a result of more expensive rice, wheat and dairy products.
That would translate into $3.45 billion this year from $2.5 billion last year.
“Surging prices of wheat, rice and vegetable oils will take their toll on import costs,” the UN agency said.
“Soaring international quotations are mostly responsible but also freight costs, which have nearly doubled for many routes.”
Last week, Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said food and energy inflation likely capped economic growth to between 5.2 and 6.2 percent in the three months to March.

Manila Times
May 28,2008
G7, G20 Nations Urged To seek boost in Oil Output
AFP

PARIS: France called on the G7 on Tuesday to press oil-producing nations to boost their output in a bid to bring down prices that have reached record highs and thrown a spanner in oil-fired economies. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she would put the request to her counterparts of the Group of Seven club of rich countries to seek a common front with Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
“We cannot forever be in a market system in which the price is permanently on the rise, to the benefit of producers, who are building up major oil revenues,” Lagarde told France 2 television.
“I have decided to alert all of my G7 colleagues to discuss this issue, among consumer nations, and that we present it to producing nations,” she said.
Lagarde said she would ask the G20 group of emerging economies to join in the drive to bring down the price of the barrel, that hit a record high of $135 last week.
France has been rocked by nearly three weeks of protests by fishermen who have blocked ports, fuel depots and marinas to press demands for government aid to help cushion soaring fuel coasts.
While the protest movement appeared to be dying off in France after the government released aid, fishing fleets in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece launched action to press for assistance.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a radio interview that French consumers should brace for higher oil prices and that France was committed to developing alternative energy sources.

“The demand for oil products is getting stronger and stronger and supply is not increasing or very little,” said Sarkozy.

**ringostarr** · May 29th, 2008 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by jpdm

....Record high oil and food prices are hurting the economies of alot of nations including the Philippines...the spike in oil prices has dampened our stock market, consumption and manufacturing...our trade deficit has increased and businesses are scaling back their expansion...

....The spectacular rise of oil and food prices are also now triggering mass actions around the world...

....The world is bracing itself for an impending socio-economic slowdown..

yun mga walang delikadesang tao na nakipaglaro sa commodities and ignoring the possible consequences eh sigurado makakatikim kay nature

**pup2** · May 29th, 2008 05:36 AM

I just hope when the rioting starts, the rioters make sure that the speculators/rumor-merchants like * ***** ******* get creamed first.

**uls** · May 29th, 2008 04:11 PM

there are huge amounts of money moving electronically around the world.

they are looking for parking spaces where they can grow...

they used to be parked in stocks and bonds...

but when the US housing bubble blew up and banks stopped lending, these huge amounts of money fled their parking spaces coz if they stayed there, they will be destroyed (wealth destruction).

They found new parking space in the commodities markets.

Because of their size, and because the commodities markets are not that big, the massive inflow of money distorted the prices of commodities.

Analysts say the value of a barrel of oil should be around $80. It's $130+.

From Globe and Mail, Canada - May 28, 2008
"BCA Research says fair value for oil is $80 a barrel."

Speculators have distorted the price of rice.

It rose from $400 to $700 to $1,000 in a matter of weeks.

So eto tayo ngayon... mahal ang pagkain, mahal ang gas.

Humina ang economy natin.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/98001/So...c-growth-to-52

The peso has weakened to almost P44 to $1. Maybe coz of strong demand for dollars. Importers need more dollars to buy more expensive oil and other commodities...

So what do we do now...

I don't know. Tiis.

**Flagg** · May 29th, 2008 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by uls

....The peso has weakened to almost P44 to $1. Maybe coz of strong demand for dollars. Importers need more dollars to buy more expensive oil and other commodities...

So what do we do now...

I don't know. Tiis.

You got it right as usual boss. Hindi lang stocks and bonds, pati hedge & mutual funds bagsak.

I hope bago things get worse, mag-implode yung mga speculators. Bale bibigay ang mga principals nila cuz of costs of living tapos they withdraw their funds from the pool na mina-manage nitong mga ito, decreasing their power.

Parang yung sa CALPERS. Mejo mahirap buhay ngaun sa Cali.

**Monseratto** · May 29th, 2008 08:46 PM

Nobody knows how this will end. Inflation is the bad word for the season. Economic activity will slow to alarming levels if things do not settle down.

Soaring food, oil prices drag Q1 economic growth to 5.2%

"We are experiencing an economic slowdown that is generally caused by inflation, which is caused by high oil and food prices... From where I'm sitting, I see no end to [these]," he said.

Santos also said that the economic slowdown abroad hit the Philippines harder than it did other Asian countries because the country is a heavy oil and fuel importer.

He also said that exports were weak in the first quarter because of the economic crunch in the United States, the Philippines largest export destination.

Former NEDA chief and University of the Philippines economics professor Cayetano Paderanga also expects a protracted economic slump for the Philippines.

"The slowdown was expected and will continue before things start to turn up. Most hope it could come mid to late 2009, but it could come late 2010," Paderanga said.

**ringostarr** · May 30th, 2008 02:25 AM

bec. it's all about greed. people dont want to work/build anymore. puro easy money ang gusto

**v6dreamer** · May 30th, 2008 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by ringostarr

bec. it's all about greed. people dont want to work/build anymore. puro easy money ang gusto

Gaya ng mga kutong cop at tulisang nagkalat. Mga PESTE nga ang mga iyan.

**jpdm** · May 30th, 2008 09:44 AM

Parang mahirap ng gumamit ng sasakyan pag 70-100 pesos na per liter of gas.....huhuhu....

Diyos ko...magkano pamasahe nyan...

Masakit sa bulsa...

Mukhang magkakatotoo sinabi ni Ariel Ureta..

Sa ikauunlad ng bayan...bisikleta ang kailangan....

Pati koryente at lahat ng produkto damay....

..naalala ko yung apocalyptic movie that the world stop because of worldwide riots due to high prices of food and fuel....

In the end these sons of devils who speculate on oil and food plus the gluttonous OPEC (as producer) US (as owner of the biggest oil companies in the world that control worldwide supply (Is it Enron which was grilled by the US Congress?The seven sisters (oil companies) including Exxon, Gulf, Anglo-Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Totalfina elf, Aramco etc..)

Indonesia just resigned from OPEC...buti naman..

Kawawa kapitbahay nya..ang Pinas....

**uls** · May 30th, 2008 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by Flagg

Hindi lang stocks and bonds, pati hedge & mutual funds bagsak.

Mutual funds are regulated by the govt... they can only invest in stocks and bonds... so bagsak sila...

Hedge funds are not regulated. They can invest in anything. Most of them lost money in stocks so now they are trying to earn back the money in the commodities markets. Ginagawa nila fund raising ang commodities.

Pati pension funds pumasok sa commodities.

Look at what Calpers is doing:

MarketWatch - May 13, 2008
A recent move by pension giant Calpers to commit to raise their commodity exposure to $7 billion (from less than $400 million) underscores this growing ...

Dapat yung nasa commodities market yung talaga may balak na tumanggap ng delivery ng oil, grains, metals...

What the hell is a pension fund doing in the commodities market?!