'Tis the Season

OPEC is at it again. They’re meeting in Nigeria to discuss more production cuts. It doesn’t seem to me that long ago when OPEC was talking about the ideal price of oil range as being between $28 and $35 per barrel. What happened you ask? When the price of oil rose above $60 and the global economy didn’t fall apart, OPEC realized that it could make a lot more money by keeping oil above $60. So now we are facing the possibility of production cuts and higher oil prices, which the market most certainly won’t like.

On the plus side, Wall Street is having a great year. The pick up in market activity along with all the mergers and acquisitions, has resulted in record profits on Wall Street. Bear Sterns for example, blew past their forecast $3.36 per share and hit an actual number of $4.00 per share. Well record profits lead to bonuses as Goldman Sachs announced it was setting aside $16.5 billion to cover salaries and bonuses for its employees with top bonuses exceeding $20-million. Not bad for shuffling some paper and greasing some palms. Where do I sign?