Idle Rambling on A Thursday Night

I don't always keep my site as current as I should. There's just too much to keep track of. Having said that, it is interesting to note that daily changes sometimes gets us excited and we forget the general trend or the historical data.

I bring this up because I haven't gotten around to updating "By the Numbers" segment at the top of the sidebar on the right. It is still from September 8 (today is September 16). Between then (September 8) and now (September 16) the price of oil has gone up a few dollars and down a few dollars. I remember one of the CNBC "talking heads" acting shocked to see a sudden reversal on the price of oil yesterday or the day before.

But then, look at the little widget/graph with the price of oil on a longer time scale. Note that the change in the price of oil MONTH OVER MONTH was down 0.04 percent. That's not 4 percent, but 0.04 percent, an imperceptible amount. And just yesterday, a "talking head" was shocked by the sudden reversal.

[Update, September 17, less than 24 hours later: the price of oil is now up to $75.13, up almost 0.75. I wonder if CNBC "talking heads" will talk about this "sudden reversal." What poppycock.]

Now, this isn't to say that the price of oil won't continue tumbling but hearing something on television doesn't always match with reality (well, duh).

By the way, I appreciate all the folks commenting on my posts. I always worry that I am going to offend someone; my goal is not to offend anyone, but I do realize that once in awhile I may be a bit harsh on some producers, and I do poke stereotypical fun at my home state and the small towns, but I truly love the state and the people, so I hope my comments are not taken out of context.

Anyway, good luck to all.