Pakdi.net

From Yahoo Finance:

Oil rises above $144 on US supply drop
Oil soared to a record above $144 a barrel Thursday in Asia, fueled by concerns over a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. stockpiles and the threat of conflict with Iran.

Now, everybody is worrying. But in some place, somewhere, a group of people is really happy with this situation. Er.. maybe

From Mr S. Dali of Malaysia-Finance:

Its now an official game of blame. Who is responsible for the current price of oil at US140 per barrel.

Big Oil Companies (when doing their PR in their home countries): They will blame speculators for driving up oil prices. As they are spreading propaganda to the general public, they have to divert attention from themselves. The big oil companies fear that their own government will whack them with big windfall tax on their earnings.

Big Oil Companies (at major international conferences): When they are away from their home ground, they will blame the situation on inadequate supply. They will blame it on countries with supposed oil reserves. The big oil companies want the international spotlight on these countries so that these countries will be pressured to open up their locations to allow more joint ventures with big oil companies.

OPEC: They do not want to be pressured to pump more oil. Their blame game is back on the speculators. They also rather focus the increase in demand side, and would state that their supply growth is steady. Just because demand is rising faster than OPEC’s supply, that is not OPEC’s fault. They would try to deflect criticism on the demand side, including China and other emerging markets.

Countries Cutting Oil Subsidy: They would have to blame it on speculators or something external so that the decision would seem to be forced upon them, when it was bad planning to start with. Many of these countries should have been weaned off subsidies long before the proverbial stuff hit the fan.

Speculators: Well, they would want to be regarded as investors now, now that they are taking along their profits on such a good thing. Careers and fortunes have been made by just going long on oil for the past 3 years. They claim that since they have been going long, taking profit, and going long some more, they should be classified as investors - even though they now account for the majority of futures trade in oil, and have no bloody intention to consume.

Oil & Gas Companies: They provide the equipment and physical asets to allow for more drilling, they don’t care who is to be blamed for the oil price surge. The higher the price, the greater the number of jobs as more difficult wells become viable and more complex technologies are employed.

Political Pundits: Mostly arguing that oil had been kept artificially low by US interests for far too long, and now thanks to the debilitating economic conditions in the US (hence USD) and a more liberal global political landscape, oil is finding its true mean.

Traditional Economists: Its a simple demand and supply equation. Not so much that supply is unable to match demand, but rather that the low hanging fruits, the easy oil has all been harvested and identified. The higher price of oil basically means the market is forcing players to spend more, invest more to find the more difficult oil.

Libya, Cuba, North Korea: Its another American conspiracy.

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From Martin Lewis. What is Good Debt and Bad Debt.

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Bill Gates will retire starting July 1, 2008.

This 52 years old guy is worth USD 50 billion.  This paragraph may explain what Bill Gates will do in his retirement life:

“I’m not going to create a company,” Gates vows. “The foundation is the top priority. But there are some other things that I might help along. The scientific brainstorming with Nathan’s group has led to a new nuclear energy startup, and I’m a funder and advisor to that thing. It won’t be a huge amount of time, but the truth is, cheap energy that’s environmentally friendly is a breakthrough that is more important for the poor than the rich. And the poor need fertilizer, more reliable seeds, and better agriculture too. They can’t cut back their eating, because that’s called starvation. So I’m investing in that.”

If you’re interested to read further about Bill Gates story upon his retirement, read this:

Microsoft Without Gates

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An interesting story for you. Real-life experience by these 10 families on how to control their bad habit on credit card debt.

Well, if they can do it, you can do it too!

Read all 10 wonderful stories: They cut out their credit cards

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Bank Negara Malaysia introduces tiered pricing structure to promote good financial discipline among credit card users

Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to announce the introduction of a tiered pricing structure for credit card users to promote the use of credit cards as a payment instrument. This is part of Bank Negara Malaysia’s continuous efforts to promote prudent financial management and inculcate good financial discipline among credit card users in Malaysia.

On average, one-third of credit cardholders use their credit cards as a payment instrument, settling their credit card outstanding amount in full every month. More than half of cardholders pay at least the minimum amount due promptly and roll over the remaining balance. For the benefit of credit card users who have a good track record of settling their credit card balances which are due each month, promptly for 12 consecutive months, the finance charge will be reduced from the maximum of 18% per annum to not more than 15% per annum. The ceiling rate of 18% per annum will still be applicable for other cardholders.

Credit card issuers will begin to track the repayment behaviour of their cardholders with effect from 1 July 2007. The details of the new scheme, including the finance charges and its calculations, will be communicated by individual card issuers. The tiered pricing structure will be implemented by 1 July 2008.

Bank Negara Malaysia also encourages debit cards as an alternative payment instrument. The domestic banking institutions are in the process of upgrading all credit card terminals deployed by them to accept their ATM cards. The exercise, which is expected to be completed this year, will enable the 15.4 million ATM cardholders to use their ATM cards to make purchases at participating merchants.

The greater use of these payment cards is part of Bank Negara Malaysia’s drive to accelerate the migration to e-payments. Bank Negara Malaysia and the financial industry will continue to implement initiatives to promote e-payments.

Bank Negara Malaysia
26 June 2007

Official Source is here

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