[Baradium]

Flex takeoffs do save some fuel, although they are primarily to help the engines last longer.


For those of you going on about "OIL IS FINITE!" The reason other people aren't talking about it like it is, it's becuase right now there is enough to last long term without any issues.


The reason oil prices are high is speculators, that's it. Thank those guys on wall street that care more about getting some more money than the rest of the country. If you can't tell, I hate the oil speculators and think that oil shouldn't be priced based on a commodity market.

Oil is NOT priced based on supply and demand, it's priced based on the speculators. Oil speculators set the price, and oil companies pay themselves that amount to get the oil they got out of the groudn themselves.

Many of you might not have seen it, but the Saudis recently announced that they would not increase their production of oil because there isn't really a shortage and pricing is becuase of speculators. They actually said they were concerned that the bottom will fall out of the market and it will go back to the $40/barrel range (where it should be).

If there really was a shortage, you'd actually notice a shortage of supply at the pump etc. Instead, enough oil comes out, but speculators keep the prices high.

This is also why no one can accurately predict what prices will do, because there aren't market forces doing it, it's the speculators.


There's a good chance that an initial dip in the price will cascade and collapse the price if the speculators see a drop coming and start to panic and opt out.

Unfortunately, without legal or other changes, there's not much right now to stop the speculators from doing these things to prices (although a public outcry and protests at each individual speculator would go a long way towards accomplishing that).


Remember, oil went above $100 a barrel because a speculator wanted to be able to tell his daughter that he was the reason it passed it.