And the reason is...

...<does anybody have the hat?  Where's the hat?  You know, the excuse hat, where is it?>

And the reason is..."The bail-out of the financial markets could potentially cause a Trillion dollar deficit, which weakens the dollar.  So, of course since oil is priced in dollars it HAD to go up...right?

Right.  A run-up in oil prices is certainly not attributable to speculation.  Entirely supply and demand.

Clearly with no pending storm systems in the gulf and Russia having pulled out of Georgia (the last two reasons du jour for those of you playing at home), it must then be that the world's demand for oil is 25% greater today than it was on Friday.  If it ain't supply it must be demand...Right?

Or maybe, just maybe, lacking any other investment with a reasonable rate of return, commodities is where the money went.  Stocks are down.  Financials, tech, telecomm, biotech, transportation, all down.  Where then if I am the 800-pound gorilla (aka institutional investor) do I put my clients' money?

Silver?  UP.  Gold?  UP.  Dairy?  UP.  Agricultural?  UP.  And of course, Oil?  WAY UP.

Across the board, commodities went up.  Did we lose a large herd of dairy producing cows over the weekend?  Was there a run on Zales at the mall?  Must have been, right?  Because if we were to believe that fluctuations in price can only be attributed to supply and demand, and demand didn't change a whole bunch over the weekend, well then it must be a big hit to supply.

Somebody please let me know where to send the condolence wreath for Bessie's memorial.  For that matter the rest of our economy may be joining here there.  Note to self: Better order more wreaths (expect those agricultural commodities to spike).