$500 Billion a Year

T. Boone Pickens is an interesting character. On Thursday he made several calls, including:

"I think oil's going to back off," he said, during an interview on Squawk Box. "The weakest quarter is the second quarter. We'll drop $10 or $15 a barrel in the second quarter. I think we'll be back above $100 in the second half of the year."

"I think natural gas prices are unusually high now, and I think they're going to back off, also," he added.

He is also hugely bullish on all sorts of alternative energy, although not as much on ethanol. Wind and solar will benefit Texas greatly, and can have a positive impact on the rest of the Midwest too.

The title of this post comes from the amount of capital that flows overseas to support our oil addiction. TBP noted that this is clearly unsustainable over any significant period of time, and I'm inclined to agree.

A Conference of Interest

The Outlook for World Agriculture:
Biofuels Have Changed the Game—Are You Ready?
4 Mar 2008
8:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Hilton Philadelphia Airport
4509 Island Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19153

Registration Deadline: 25 February 2008


Biofuels have become the driving force in commodity markets and the agriculture industry—is your organization prepared to address the effects on supply and demand conditions in North America and beyond? Join Global Insight's team of experts and distinguished guest speaker as we explore how macroeconomic factors, energy prices, and crop sector risks contribute to the agriculture industry.

This one-day event will thoroughly examine international and U.S. agriculture sectors as they relate to the biofuel, food, and livestock production, and provide an expert perspective on short- and long-term agriculture outlooks.

Obligatory First Post

I want to use this as a vehicle for discussion alternative fuel policy, practice, and the financial implications on the market.